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[Event "'The Immortal Game'"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "London 1851"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Adolph Anderssen"]
[Black "Lionel Kieseritzky"]
[Result "1-0"]
{ The game that follows is my second Adolph Anderssen masterpiece. Firstnamed 'the Immortal Game' by Austrian superstar Ernst Falkbeer, this isperhaps Anderssen's finest work ever - and quite possibly the most famousgame of chess ever played. In it, Anderssen plays the King's Bishop Gambit(which I am totally unfamiliar with). After sacrificing a bishop, BOTHrooks, AND his queen, Anderssen delivers a mate that is truly inspiredby some higher power. How many of us GameKnot patzers would ever dreamof winning a game with a -21 material deficit? While the normal human wouldbe scared senseless at the prospect of having his king so exposed (andfrom such an early point), Anderssen attacks like a man possesed (and afterstudying his games, I think he very well may have been:) I will try toprovide a commentary (with some liberal usage of key points made by playersfar more keen than I) that will keep you tuned into the mind of this master.I hope you enjoy:) }
1. e4 e5 2. f4 { King's Gambit - an Anderssen favorite. } 2... exf4
{ King's Gambit Accepted. In studying this opening a little, I havelearned that this is usually the best response for black. We must haveSOME King's Gambit players out there, and I would love to play againstyou to become more familiar with this opening:) }
3. Bc4
{ King's BishopGambit. My research shows that 3. Nf3 is a much more standard response. }
3... Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5
{ Bryan's Counter-Gambit. Named for American ameteur ThomasJefferson Bryan who studied it extensively in Paris and London in the 19thcentury. It aims to gambit a pawn while harrassing white's light squaredbishop. This kind of play is WAAAAY over my head. I think most of us wouldagree that black needs to accelerate his development. But what do I know? }
5. Bxb5 { Regaining material equality. } 5... Nf6 { Eying the e pawn. } 6. Nf3
{ Thebeginning of a developmental attack on the black queen. } 6... Qh6 7. d3
{ Protectinge4, and aiming at f4. Supposedly, Anderssen spent a lot of time on thisone..... }
7... Nh5
{ Protecting the f pawn and threatening 8...Ng3 , winninga rook for a knight. }
8. Nh4
{ Does anyone else notice a seemingly non-chalantattitude by Anderssen about his piece development? I have no idea whatwould prompt such a move. There are PAGES of analysis about this move thathave been published. }
8... Qg5 { Threatening 9...Qxh4 OR 9...Qxb5. } 9. Nf5
{ Theonly move to stop 9...Qxb5. } 9... c6
{ And it appears that the harrassment ofthe bishop has begun. } 10. g4
{ ! Anderssen is willing to let the bishopfall as he starts a plan of attacking the black queen. First things firstthough - that Nh5 need to be forced to a square that restricts the queen'sescape. }
10... Nf6 11. Rg1
{ !Sacrifice #1 - Bye Bye Bishop. Safer plays includedBa4 or Bc4, but Anderssen had bigger plans. }
11... cxb5 12. h4 { Notice the littlebox that the black queen is trapped in. }
12... Qg6 { Forced. } 13. h5 Qg5 { Forcedagain. } 14. Qf3
{ Threatening to play Bxf4 followed by e5. } 14... Ng8
{ Forcedyet again. Black has to create an escape path for his queen. We now approachthe 15th move of the game, and notice that now only one piece on the wholeboard is developed! }
15. Bxf4 { Here comes the pain.......... } 15... Qf6 { Threateningb2. } 16. Nc3
{ Developing (finally!), protecting b2, and threatening thestrong Nd5. } 16...
Bc5
{ Most top level players put a ? next to this move. Mostsuggest 16...Na6. Why? I don't know....I'm just a 1500 level internet junkie:)The attack on white's Rg1 is potent though (isn't it?). }
17. Nd5
{ Moreaggrevation for the black queen. White's b pawn is now hanging, but Anderssenlives in the future, not the present. }
17... Qxb2
{ At last some relief from therepeated attacks, and black gains yet another pawn while threatening white'sRa1 with a check to boot. Anderssen was obviously aware of this, but hehad other ideas....... }
18. Bd6
{ ! Sacrifice #2 - Anderssen offers a rooksacrifice. PAGES, (and I do mean PAGES) of possible alternatives were listedin my research. White now has both rooks hanging. *'Rooks? We don't needno stinking rooks!'* }
18... Bxg1 { Black is now at +8. } 19. e5
{ !! Sacrifice#3 - Anderssen now offers up the other rook! Remember - absinthe was stilllegal back in those days, and it appears that he was drinking it heavily........orwas this simply a brilliant play? }
19... Qxa1+ { Black is now +13 and directlyattacking the enemy king. } 20. Ke2
{ BAM!!!!!!!! Black is now at least twomoves away from delivering another check. Anderssen is now severely downin MATERIAL, but has a massive advantage in TIME. Watch this............... }
20... Na6 { Protecting against 21. Nc7 , but white now has forced mate in 3. }
21. Nxg7+ { 'Hello Mr. Black King! Would you kindly move to d8 please?' } 21...
Kd8 { 'Why certainly....do I have a choice?' } 22. Qf6+
{ !! Sacrifice #4- 'Hello again Mr. King! I just wanted to inform you of your impendingdeath:)' }
22... Nxf6 { Forced. } 23. Be7#
{ And the dagger through the heart. Thisis one of the most instructive games I have ever seen. It proves that whilemaintaining material is important, piece coordination and the concept ofTIME can overcome such material deficits. The funny thing is that thiswas just a skittles game - it had no bearing on any tournament or seriousplay. Can you just imagine what was going through the minds of Steinitzand other top players of that era when they saw this? (assuming they everdid). I'm sure they probably thought that Anderssen was a direct relativeof Caissa:) I hope you have enjoyed it:) More famous games are forthcoming,and I appreciate all the kind words I have received for posting them withmy own meager analysis. Cheers!, Thomas }
1-0
|
[Event "Greco-Unknown, Rome 1619"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "1619"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Gioachino Greco"]
[Black "Unknown"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "no rating"]
[TimeControl "no time control"]
[WhiteElo "no rating"]
{ This game was played in Rome in 1619. Playing White was Gioachino Greco,the great Italian master, and playing Black was an unknown opponent. Mycomments are based on the annotated game from Ubisoft's Chessmaster GrandmasterEdition, annotated by an unknown player. 'Chess notation is a wonderfulinvention – a time machine that allows us to enjoy chess games of all eras,even those played hundreds of years ago. Here we see one of the first greatchess masters, Gioachino Greco, in action. While Greco is credited withdeveloping some gambits, his main contribution to chess was to publishwitty collections of games that illustrate his theories. Greco consideredthe following one of his best games.' }
1. e4 b6
{ This is the Queen's Fianchettoopening. Such an early fianchetto displays that Black is ready to defendagainst a big pawn structure in the centre, trying to flank the pawns withhis own pieces. Black must be vigilant, so as not to fall victim to anydirect attacks on the king, as this game very much illustrates. }
2. d4
{ This is the natural move. White is fine with building up a big pawn structure. }
2... Bb7 3. Bd3
{ Greco usually preferred developing his bishop to d3, insteadof c4 or b5. As this game progresses, it will become apparent that thebishop is very well placed. }
3... f5 { Black advances a pawn to break up White'scentre structure. } 4. exf5
{ White accepts the pawn, and the fireworks begin. } 4... Bxg2
{ This looks like a lot of trouble for White, as Black has the rookon h1 trapped. However, White needn't worry about it. }
5. Qh5+ g6
{ 'Itis interesting that many years after this game was played, all of the movesso far are still considered 'book.' If you weren't aware of the date, youmight believe that this game was from the hypermodern movement of the earlytwentieth century.' I, myself, would certainly not consider this 'book.' }
6. fxg6 Nf6
{ Black gets greedy and loses straight away. The usual continuationis 6. ... Bg7 7. gxh7+ Kf8 8. hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 9. Qg6 (or 9. Qg4) Bxh1, andBlack has an okay game. }
7. gxh7+ Nxh5 { Black gleefully seizes White'squeen, oblivious to his plan. }
8. Bg6#
{ 'Even after four centuries, somegames can still elicit a smile.' Indeed, this checkmate is certainly moreaesthetically pleasing than Fool's Mate, even though it's the same idea.If you wish to leave me a suggestion for an annotated game, or want toleave me feedback, please drop me a message. Your help is appreciated. }
1-0
|
[Event "Sick as a Parrott"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2008.02.13"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jstevens1"]
[Black "np-7797"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "1507"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1575"]
1. e4
{ Hi everyone! This is a very old match, at one stage I lookedlike losing it, then my opponent blundered somewhere and I got into a winningposition and then I blew it big time and I ended up taking a Low Draw. This match starts off as a Philidor with a double king pawn opening, meplaying 2. Nf3 and black (Daniel) responding with d6. }
1... e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4
{ 3. d4 - the main and most favoured line of the World DB. } 3... Nc6 4. dxe5
dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 { 5. ....... Kxd8 - queen trade. } 6. Bc4 f6 7. O-O Ke8 8.
Nc3 { 8. Nc3 - development. } 8... Nge7 9. a3 Bg4 10. Nd2
{ 10. Nd2 - ratherpassive but I did not want the pawns in front of Henry to be shattered. }
10... Nd4
{ 10. ...... Nd4 - an aggressive placement for the black steed though. } 11.
Bd3 { 11. Bd3 - necessary to defend the pawn on c1. } 11... a6 12. f3 Bd7 13.
Ne2 Nxe2+ 14. Bxe2
{ 14. Bxe2 - Fou Leblanc reads the last rites to thatblack steed. I say Good Riddance! }
14... Ng6 15. Nb3
{ 15. Nb3 - time now toclear the way for Fou Lenoir to develop and to connect those rooks. }
15... Be6 16. Be3
{ 16. Be3 - I cannot avoid my pawns being busted on the other sidethough. }
16... Bxb3 17. cxb3 { 17. cxb3 - like this. } 17... Bd6 18. b4
{ 18. b4 - tryingto keep those little footmen together. } 18... Ne7 19. Rfd1
Ng6 20. g3 { 20. g3- to keep out that other black steed. } 20... Kf7 21. Rac1
Rhd8 22. Bc5 Bxc5+ 23. bxc5
{ 23. bxc5 - I do straighten out my pawns but at a price. } 23... Ne7 24. Bc4+
Ke8 25. Bd5 Nxd5 26. exd5
{ 26. exd5 - I seem to have a decentqueenside pawn structure. However, Danny can undermine it...... }
26... c6 27. dxc6 bxc6
{ 27. ...... bxc6. Pawn trade - was 27. dxc6 a mistake - andwas d6 an improvement? Can you the Inquest Jury decide? }
28. b4 Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 { 29. Rxd1 - rook trade. } 29... Rd8 30. Rxd8+ Kxd8
{ 30. ...... Kxd8 -another rook trade and this is now a K & P ending. I now bring Henry outto the centre as far as he can go lickety-split! }
31. Kf2 Ke7 32. Ke3
{ 32.Ke3 - I put in a draw offer, it is declined. Although the game does endin a draw I suppose the coming comedy of errors livens it up a bit. }
32... Ke6 33. Kd3 Kd5
{ 33. ....... Kd5 - black has the opposition - this looks alittle ominous for white. }
34. g4 g6 35. h3 h5 36. h4 f5
{ 36. ....... f5- black rolls down his pawns. I now try and break up his kingside pawnstructure. }
37. gxf5 gxf5 38. Kc3 e4 39. fxe4+ Kxe4
{ 39. ....... Kxe4 -I was expecting exf4 but this move looks just as good. }
40. Kd2 f4 41. Ke2 f3+ 42. Kf2 Kf4 43. a4
{ 43. a4 - the only move to avoid a zugzwang. } 43... Ke4 44. b5 axb5 45. axb5
Kd5 46. bxc6
{ 46. bxc6 - this is just sooo awful! It was about 5.45 am and I was yet to take a shower - I wish I bally wellhad done. I felt as sick as a parrott. If so I should have pushed mypawn up to b6. There would have been no way Danny could stop my pawn fromreaching Glendadom. I analysed from here that I had nothing better thana draw so I offered it. After three agonising days wait my opponent accepted. After Danny accepted the draw offer I had a chat with him - he was reallynice about it saying 'these things happen'. Ah well, every cloud has asilver lining and that one silver lining was Danny and I being added toeach others buddy list! }
1/2-1/2
|
[Event "Lots of mistakes, mistakes, mistakes."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2018 Sept 26"]
[Round "-"]
[White "grace_augustine"]
[Black "fiercequeen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "black"]
[TimeControl "3+10 blitz "]
[WhiteElo "white"]
1. e4 c5 { fiercequeen, doing her job at the Sicilian } 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4.
dxc5 Qa5+ { Check } 5. Bd2 Qxc5 { 0 } 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bd3 Ne7 8. Qe2
{ Development } 8... O-O 9. O-O { Double castling } 9... Qc7 { Cool move } 10.
Be3 a6 { !? } 11. a4 d5 12. exd5 exd5 13. Nd4 Qb6 14. Nf5 { ?? } 14... Qxb2
{ ?? } 15. Nxe7+ { Check } 15... Kh8 16. Ncxd5 Be6 17. Nc7 { Trapped } 17...
Ra7 18. Bxa7 Nc6 { Die } 19. Nxc6 bxc6 20. Nxe6 fxe6 { Oof } 21. Qxe6
{ +9 for white } 21... Qf6 { Queen trade? } 22. Qxc6 { ???? } 22... Qd8 { ??? }
23. Qxa6 { Yum } 23... Bxa1 { Uh oh } 24. Rxa1 { What } 24... Qf6 { ??? } 25.
Qxf6+ { !! } 25... Rxf6 { Hhm } 26. Bd4 { Black resigns } 1-0
|
[Event "Chess-Psychology part 2"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "Me"]
[Black "Pettit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1587"]
[TimeControl "G/90+30"]
[WhiteElo "1424(P17)"]
{ This chess game was played a pretty long time ago. I had kept my ratinglow for this tournament, and had 3 wins and a draw versus some B/C players.This C level player was approaching B level. He definitely made some majormisconcepetions.Since he is actually a much stronger player than most playerson this site( I estimate his GK rating, if he were to have one to be around1800-1900 if not higher, assuming he takes quite a long time to move) hismisconceptions here are shared by most of GK. The ratings are USCF, andthey are back when this game was played. }
1. e4
{ The whole game here seemsto have been a psychological battle of fear and misconceptions rather thanon caluclations and motifs. It is the perfect example for psychology.@jkarp:Thank you very much for your input. This annotation is for intruction toweaker players primarily, and I will have used your feedback to improvethis annotation. I hope you and others enjoy it. }
1... c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 Nge7 5. Bb5
{ Part of my opening preparation. Why would one chooseto hit those redundant knights with the bishop? Reason is to trade, thenclose the position to try favoring my knights. @jkarp: You are correctin that knights are -generally- better than bishops in closed positions.However, there is no such rule in chess. When you evaluate the qualityof minor pieces, the only correct way is by concrete comparison: Whichpiece is better based on concrete variations. }
5... d5 6. exd5 Nxd5
{ (!?)Anextremely interesting try in this position. The normal move is the pawnrecapture. The knight retake looks, on first sight, ridiculous since itallows my bishop to take and double the black pawns. However, it containsa drop of poison, since it attacks f4 and black can add pressure to thetarget. Here I felt quite scared, because now I thought that it was I whohad stumbled into opening preparation, and I truly had little idea of howto proceed. }
7. Bxc6+
{ The natural move, but not best. 7.0-0! is good,with an edge to white. Mrs.Pogonina is a friend of my coach, and she isa very strong player. That is correct, castling must be made carefully.Here however, one can rest assured that it is the best move. I guess youwanted some variations. With rybka or Shredder UCI, I was able to deducethis as the best move however. The variations are quite complex. }
7... bxc6 8. d3 Bd6
{ Now I was faced with a critical decision here: How to protectthe pawn. It cannot move up safely, because the sacrifice is not exactlysound. Protecting it many times will just lead to my pieces being tieddown to it. The move g3? is bad, because it weakens the Kingside lightsquares. Here, we get on with our first misconception, and it is even sometimesseen in players much stronger than me, like at the 2300+ level. }
9. O-O
{ (!)The best move, and it could only have been made with the importantpsychological principle(that was unknown to me during the game): __Materialis just another positional factor/imbalance in any position__Most classplayers seem to value material far too much, and will only give it up inthe hopes of a direct attack against the opponent's king, or a huge positionaladvantage that is clearly obvious to favor the side down material. However,treat material like a positional factor in a position, like activity, structure,better minor pieces etc.. A 2300 player, in a game once failed to sacrificehis queen for 2 bishops but large counterplay and stuck to his passivedefense and lost quickly. I have won the psychological battle against materialoverestimation here. Unfortunately, my opponent fights his own battle against'chess fear'. }
9... O-O
{ Although castling is prudent, and a good move as well,I'm not sure my opponent seriously considered taking the pawn, since hemoved quickly. Although 9...Nxf4 10.Ne5? Bxe5 11.Bxf4 Qd4+ gives blacka clear advantage, I had prepared a pawn sacrifice with 9...Nxf4 10.Ne4!with full compensation. Another line is 9...Bxf4?! 10.Bxf4 Nxf4 11.Qd2Ng6 12.Qe3 is good or slightly better for white. @jkarp and others: Pleaseread my annotations. I know that they may be tedious, but they will helpyou get rid of bad thought process. I gave variations here justifying thepawn sacrifice. Yes, he can win a 'point'(Pawn is more accurate, sincecounting points in positions doesn't mean much usually), but remember again:MATERIAL IS JUST ANOTHER POSITIONAL IMBALANCE. If you lose a game, somethingin the position must have been bad for you, whether it was doubled pawnsor something else. The point is that, in my variations, I get adequetedevelopment and activity to offset this imbalance. The point: If you treatmaterial as different and worth more than the other positional considerations,then you will always be timid to the strong sacrifices. Material is important,but activity is just as important. Instead of tying down my pieces andweakening their activity, I strengthen my own pieces and increase the activity,all for a pawn. It is a sound sacrifice. }
10. Ne5 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bxe5
{ (?)Nowmy opponent is making a fundamental error. He makes 2 exchanges of hismost active pieces, and leaves white with a kingside advantage with oppositecolor bishops, and no piece protection for the king. This also frees mydark squared bishop immediately. Ridiculous move, but it shows my opponentbeing afraid of ghosts and 'exchanging to draw'. That leaves another principle:Exchanges do not necessarily clarify the position at all. When you makean exchange, you are making a critical decision that may alter the positiondrastically. Once again, please remember that because material is even,does not mean the position is close to it. In fact, here, white has a majoradvantage worth just as much or even more than a pawn, since he will soonhave a powerful attack. }
12. fxe5 Qd5 13. Bf4
{ (?)Now this is a concretemistake that seriously hampers my attack. If I were to be given this positionnow, I would have chosen 13.Qe1! in seconds. Unfortunately, my inexperienceat the time led me to make the best looking move: The Bf4 develops andlooks good, while the queen to e1 looks strange at best, and moves thequeen before completing development. This brings up rule #3: The power/qualityof your move depends only on your opponent's possible responses to it andthe positions those lead to. Qe1 would eliminate counterplay at once, whilethis move gives black a chance at survival. }
13... c4 14. d4 Rd8 15. Qg4 { . } 15... Bb7 16. Rf3 Qe4 17. Rg3 g6 18. Rf1 c5
{ . } 19. Qh3
{ (?)A mistake. It istoo slow. White should have transformed his advantage with 19.Bh6, witha clearly advantageous endgame. But black, on the defensive, continuespassively, and does not counterplay. @jkarp: The reason that Bh6 is thebest move is because there is no good way to continue the attack becauseblack will simply defend. There is nothing close to mate because blackeasily defends. If you give white some free moves, OF COURSE he will beable to mate. What opponent would allow that? In the start of a chess game,if you give the opponent some free moves, he will able to capture manyof your pieces, but you dont allow that. }
19... Qf5 { (?) } 20. Qh4 Kf8 21. Qxh7 Qxc2 22. Qh8+ Ke7 23. Qf6+ Ke8 24. Bg5
{ The game is over. You have learnedof some important (3) rules in this game. Applying these into your thoughtprocess wioll improve you a lot, because these are 3 huge and common mistkaesby even strong players. @jkarp: After looking at your thought process,I believe that the way for you to improve is the following: 1.Do not thinkso much about the principles and general rules in chess as much as theconcrete analysis. This is the 3rd most common mistake by club players:They judge the quality of moves by using principles and general rules.Principles are only for selecting candidate ideas and tiebreaks in caseyou analysed 2 moves, and they are equal. Objectivity is the key. 2.Rememberthe rule: A move, no matter how good it looks, is only good or bad basedon the opponent's answer(s) to it. 3.If you can use these ideas in yourthough process, your performance will soar. Thanks. }
1-0
|
[Event "ozgun92 vs goflb #5: Never Give Up"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.05.27"]
[Round "-"]
[White "goflb"]
[Black "ozgun92"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1711"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1527"]
{ This is another game between me and my friend Özgün. This time, to everyone'ssurprise, I won. But that was due to a single move blunder on his partin the endgame despite him being two pawns up. He had just returned froman intercontinental trip, so better blame the plane instead of congratulatingme! }
1. c4 { Anyway, I decide to kick off with a change, instead of my constante4. }
1... e6 { Does he *always* reply e6? } 2. d4
{ Occupying the center. Not quiteEnglish, I presume. } 2... d5
{ Challenging the center. We have almost a Frenchsituation, except that the e4 pawn is on c4. }
3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5
{ Pins by both sides, and he castles first. I will have to wait tillmove 16. }
5... O-O 6. e3 c6 7. Rc1
{ I think the idea was not to leave my a-pawnisolated. } 7... h6 8. Bh4
{ I love those bishops, and pins are not bad at all! } 8... Nbd7 9. Bd3 Qa5 10.
a3 Bxc3+ 11. Rxc3 { The first exchange takes place. } 11... dxc4 12. Bxc4
{ Exchange the second. } 12... Qh5
{ Temporarily pinning that Knightfor the protection, and relocating the Queen. }
13. Bg3
{ He had more futurethere, and this frees the Knight from the defence of the Bishop. }
13... Ne4
{ Pressurepiles on, as he threatens the Rook and Bishop simultaneously. } 14.
Rc2 Nxg3 15. fxg3
{ Now I have a central pawn island. It is not falling anytimesoon, though. }
15... Nf6 16. O-O Nd5
{ Threatening the backward pawn, and a 4rk.(A fork including four pieces) } 17.
Bxd5
{ I thought that taking the Knightwas better than tying one of the big guys to the defence of e3. e4? doesnot work- he still plays Ne3 and I lose at least the exchange. }
17... exd5 18. Rcf2 { Lining up on the half-open file. } 18... Bg4
{ Pressure grows. } 19. h3 { Getoff there! } 19... Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Qxf3
{ Exchanging off material. } 21. gxf3
{ Thisis the most ?! move of the game. The last game between him and me, I lostdue to a wretched pawn structure in the endgame. I thought the best wayto go now was to correct my pawns, given the chance. However, a huge drawbackis that this move blocks both Rooks. Probably Rxf3 was much better. }
21... Rfe8 22. Re2
{ Now he has got his half-open file, and my Rook is going nowhere. } 22... Re7
23. Kf2
{ I thought of e4, but if he does not take, my pawn itself getspinned. } 23...
Rae8 24. Rfe1 { Files, files, files. } 24... f5
{ maximum control of e4- mission accomplished } 25. g4 g6 26. gxf5 gxf5
{ Still control of e4 -although this move exposes the King, he is not going to stay there anyway. }
27. h4 { Why not Kg3? } 27... Kg7 28. Kg3 Kf6 29. Kf4
{ Great. Now I am one movebehind. } 29... Rg8 30. e4 dxe4 31. fxe4
{ And now that my pawn has left the protectionof g4, he can check me and get a pawn. }
31... Rg4+ 32. Kf3 Rxh4 { There he goes. } 33. exf5 Rxe2 34. Rxe2 Rxd4 35. Re6+
{ We're going down! That was goingto fall anyway, better get the h-pawn in compensation. }
35... Kxf5 36. Rxh6 Rd3+ 37. Ke2 Rb3 38. Kd2 Rxb2+
{ At this point, I was already making plans foranother challenge. Against another opponent I would have resigned, butin a friendly environment, I decided to give him the honors. }
39. Kc3 { Playa5, leave the Rook, come on! (*uses the force with one hand*) }
39... Rb6 { Faraway from danger. :( } 40. Kd4 Ra6 { Threatens Rxa3. } 41. Rh3
{ Now that Iprotect the pawn, he suddenly has other plans: } 41... Ra5
{ Such as protectinghis King (??) - the losing move after 5 days of a tiresome competitionand 16 hours of flight and +/- 10 hours of jet-lag. How else was I supposedto beat him? He offered a draw after this point, which I - so unchivalrously- declined. }
42. Rh5+ Ke6 43. Rxa5
{ At this point he asked me 'Do you knowthe King-Rook mating pattern?' and I replied 'Yes.' He, of course, didnot believe it. }
43... a6 { The only way not to lose a pawn immediately. } 44. Kc5 Kd7 45. Kb6
Kc8 { The King is bound for the protection of the backwardc7 pawn. } 46. Re5
{ And this is the coup-de-grace; a zugzwang! Both pawnmoves lose, and moving the King to b8 (??) causes checkmate (Re8#), andmoving him away loses the pawns one by one. Very well played until move41, my friend! Hope you enjoyed :) }
1-0
|
[Event "Philidor's Attack"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.07.12"]
[Round "-"]
[White "rich_sposato"]
[Black "malevokun"]
[Result "1-0"]
1. e4
{ This is a fast blitz game played played against a player 200 pointsabove me. }
1... c5
{ I see the c5 opening often among people ranked 1500 to 1900,but I don't think it offers any great advantage over other openings. }
2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3
{ Protecting the white e4 pawn in case black pulls out a knight. } 3... Nc6 4.
Be2 { Getting ready to castle. As they say, 'castle early, castleoften'. } 4...
Nf6 { What did I tell you about black pulling out a knight? } 5. O-O
{ What's that rule about castling before embarking on any major attacks? } 5...
e6 { Now both of black's bishops are blocked. } 6. d3
{ Now one of my bishopsis blocked. } 6... Be7 7. a3
{ Moving the a pawn out to discourage that knighton c6 from getting any strange ideas. }
7... a6 8. Bd2 O-O
{ With black clearingout the minor kingside pieces and advancing the queenside pawns, I figuredblack would castle soon. }
9. Rb1 b5 { Here comes trouble. } 10. b4
{ Offeringa pawn exchange so I can get my rook out. } 10... Qb6
{ Now if I can just clearout both pawns on the b file, the rook gets to scare the queen away andtake control over an open file. This will require moving some pawns andminor pieces into position first. }
11. Be3
{ This is actually a dangersmove for me. Black could eventually bring a pawn to the d4 square and forkthe bishop and knight if I am not careful. However, I'm aware of the possibility,so if I see black moving towards that, I'll move either the knight or bishopto safety first. }
11... d5 12. exd5 Nxd5
{ I guess black wasn't thinking of thed4 pawn fork after all. } 13. Nxd5 exd5
14. c3 Be6 15. d4
{ Will black takethe d4 pawn or push forward to occupy c4 with a doubly-supported pawn? }
15... c4 { Black chose occupation over capture here. } 16. Ng5
{ If Bxg5, then Bx65and my bishop is in position to disrupt black's kingside pawns. Otherwise,the knight could take the bishop on e6 and leave a temporarily unprotectedpawn on c6. With most of black's pawns on light squares, and me havinga light square bishop, I might be able to pick off those pawns later. On the downside, taking out black's bishop gives black's rook control overa half-open file. }
16... Bf5
{ Black moves bishop out of harm's way and whereit can harm my rook. } 17. Rc1
{ Move rook to safe square. } 17... a5 18. Bg4
{ Timeto frighten the bishop away. } 18... Bg6 19. Bh5
{ With white's bishop retreatingto protect kingside pawns, let's see if I can entice it to take out mybishop. Then my queen moves forward with a threat of checkmate on h7. }
19... axb4
{ Looks like black is not taking the bait, but wants to clear the afile for the rook. }
20. axb4 Ra3 21. Bxg6 { Fine, if somebody has to takea bishop, I'll do it. }
21... fxg6 22. Qg4
{ Moving queen forward to where it canget to e6 and put black king in check. After that and some knight moves,I smell checkmate. }
22... Bf6 23. Qe6+
{ Here we go! Right now, I can either forceblack into checkmate or to lose a rook and then get checkmated. If blackmoves the rook to block the queen, then the queen just takes it and putsblack in check again. One move later, the white queen goes to e8 and wins. }
23... Kh8 24. Nf7+
{ Black can sacrifice the rook now to stay alive. If the rooktakes the knight, the queen takes the rook. That gives black tempo forone move to pull the queen or rook to protect the back row. After that,white can pick off the d5 pawn. Black is weakened, but lives. If blackdoesn't take the knight this move, then I can use Philidor's Attack overthen next 3 moves to win. }
24... Kg8
{ Wrong move! By now, white can do a seriesof moves where black has only response to each move and the the inevitableresult is checkmate. }
25. Nh6+ { Double check to move the king to the corner. } 25... Kh8 26. Qg8+
{ Sacrifice the queen so black moves the rook over to cornerthe king. } 26...
Rxg8 27. Nf7# { And the knight wins! } 1-0
|
[Event "Blitz"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "davidofegypt"]
[Black "henryk555"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2049"]
[WhiteElo "1430"]
1. d4 { my first 2049 wiining } 1... d5 2. c4 e6 { normal queen gambitr } 3.
Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 c5 8. O-O Nc6 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10.
Qc2 { start attack by occupying b1-h7 diagonal as a base } 10... a6
{ prepareto b5 } 11. Rd1 { attack the queen and occupy the open file and }
11... Qc7 12. Bd3 { stress on the diagonal } 12... Be7 13. Ng5 { attack h7 }
13... h6 14. Nh7 { i wantedto exchange the knights } 14... Rd8 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6
16. Bh7+ Kf8 { i don't thinkit's good defense h8 was better } 17. Ne4
{ to attack th defensing bishop } 17... Be7 18. b3 { prepare for bb2 } 18... g6
{ wanted to trap the LSB but as the blackking away its not a problem } 19. Bb2
{ direct attack on the important diagonal } 19... Bd7 { ? } 20. Nf6 Rac8 { ? }
21. Bxg6 { nice sacrifice } 21... fxg6 22. Qxg6 { threatenqg8 checkmate } 22...
Bxf6 23. Qxf6+ { black resign } 1-0
|
[Event "Fierce Queen goes Ben Oni..."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2017.03.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "brianallen"]
[Black "fiercequeen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2034"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1948"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. d5 d6
{ all in a days' work; from Sicilianto Ben Oni style... } 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Be2 a6
7. a4 Qa5 8. Nd2 O-O 9. Ra3
{ thismove - clearly to avoid b5 - cancels out most of White's opening advantage... }
9... Nbd7 10. Nc4 Qc7 11. O-O Rb8 12. a5 b5 13. axb6 Nxb6 14. Ne3
{ not thebest move; better was f4 or b3... } 14... c4 15. Kh1 e6 16. dxe6 fxe6
17. Ng4 Qc6 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Bf3 { better f4... } 19... Bxc3 20. bxc3
{ clearly a mistake;Rxc3 was much better than this ugly move... } 20... Nd7 21.
Ra5 { very ambitious;better Ra1... } 21... Rb1 { of course... } 22. Qd4 e5 23.
Qd5+ Qxd5 24. Rxd5 Rf6 25. Be2
{ again, too ambitious; best was Rdd1, Nc5, Bg5, Rxd1... } 25... Nc5 26. Ba3
{ after f3, Nxe4!, Bxc4, Kh8, White is in enough trouble as it is; thistakes the cake... }
26... Rxf1+ 27. Bxf1 Bb7 28. Rd1
{ too late to back out; muchneeded was Rxc5, dxc5, Bxc4+ or at least Bxc4, Bxd5, Bxd5+... }
28... Nxe4 29. Bxc4+ d5
{ much sharper and clearer than Kg7, Rb1, Ba8, Rb8, d5... } 30. Bxd5+ Bxd5 31.
Rxd5 Rxf2 32. h3 Re2 33. Bb4 h5 34. Kh2 Nd2 35. Rd6 Kf7 36. Rxa6 Nf1+ 37. Kg1
{ looking for trouble; better was Kh1... } 37... Ne3 38. Ra1 Kf6
{ holding the pressure on g2... } 39. Ra6+ Kf5 40. Be7
{ best wasg4; for a little while now... } 40... Rxg2+ 41. Kh1 Rxc2 42. Rf6+ Ke4
43. h4 { thisends all; much needed was Rxg6, Rxc3, Kh2... } 43... Rc1+
{ White resigns: allis over after Kh2, Ng4+, Kg2 (Kg3, Rxc3+), Nxf6, Bxf6, Rxc3... }
0-1
|
[Event "a lucky escape"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "17-Apr-08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "a-a-a"]
[Black "tugger"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1447"]
[TimeControl "2 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1700"]
{ a lucky escape... } 1. e4 c5 { sicilian... } 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Qf3 b5 9. O-O-O Bb7 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Qh5
{ and i'm in trouble. i had a long look at the database, and thisposition favours white hugely. f7 is pinned and very weak, i need to protecte6 with either queen, bishop or king. i choose king, as it's the one movethat hasn't been tried according to the database, certainly with 1900 players. }
11... Ke7 12. g3 b4
{ being honest, i'm close to resignation anyway,if only he moves his knight to the correct square... }
13. Nce2
{ ? and hemisses his chance to finish me off. much better was; 13. Nb5!! (eitherknight, doesn't essentially matter) 13... axb5 14. Nxb5... now the knightforks queen and d6. obviously the queen must move, but even then i mustbe very careful where, a white square is best to avoid another knight attackin a few moves... 14... Qc6 15. Nxd6... now knight forks bishop and, moreimportantly, the weak f7. i can do nothing to stop the queen moving inon f7, forcing the king onto d8, where he is in deep trouble. if... 15...Kd8 16. Nxf7 and the rook is lost anything else and... 16. Qxf7 Kd8 17.Nxb7 and the material is reclaimed, plus a couple of pawns for good measure,not to mention the serious positional disadvantage i've been put in. }
13... Bxe4
{ now his knight, for the time being, is tied down to protecting c2. i wantto get my bishop to g6 to relieve pressure. }
14. Rg1 Nc6 15. Bg2 Bg6
{ ?this was an error, i needed to move my rook, then trade knights, beforeattacking his queen. }
16. Nxc6+ { indeed. not much choice here... } 16... Qxc6 17. Bxc6 Bxh5 18. g4
{ ? and this surprised me greatly, i fully expected...18. Bxa8 Bxe2 and i'm down a point. he lets me off the hook again, andwith this i am equal in material, and no queens. i am relieved, thinkingi've got a chance to draw. }
18... Rc8 19. Bb7 Rc7 20. Bxa6 Bg6
{ and there wego. as it happens, this line was very bad for white, as it opens the a-filefor the rook attack. he most definitely should've taken my rook while hecould. }
21. Rd2 Bh6 22. g5 fxg5 23. fxg5 Bg7 24. Rgd1
{ ?? and with thisfinal error, white is lost. he has blocked in his king, and his bishopis now very vulnerable. }
24... Ra8
{ ! takes full advantage of white's poor move,much better than Ra7, as the c7 rook covers c4, which would be a tidy squarefor the bishop to move, protecting the pawn on a2. }
25. Bd3
{ and thoughthis move is bad, only Bb5 is safe, and Ra5 soon sorts that out. }
25... Rxa2 { and here we go... white is now in all sorts of bother... } 26. Kb1
{ ? matein four. white's only choice here if he wishes to avoid mate is simplyto move his c pawn... 26. c3 (or c4) b3! 27. Rc2 bxc2 at least white'sking now has flight to avoid mate, though it cost him a rook. i'm veryunlikely to lose from there. }
26... Rca7 { one... } 27. c3 { last act of a desperateman... } 27... b3
{ two... white resigns. 28. Kc1 Ra1 29. Bb1 Rxb1# } 0-1
|
[Event "3 tactics in one short game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "dutch fan"]
[Black "me"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1157"]
[WhiteElo "1209"]
1. e4 { isn't him a dutch fan? dutch fans likes the bird. } 1... e5 2. b3
{ thesanta claus opening... } 2... Nf6
{ Stealing his e pawn. Called the grinch defense.Bb2 is recommanded against it. }
3. Bb2 Bc5 { f2 weakness } 4. d3 d5 { planninga trap... } 5. Bxe5
{ He falls for it! } 5... Bxf2+ { good ol f2 sac } 6. Kxf2 Ng4+ 7. Ke1 Nxe5
{ bye, bishop! } 8. exd5 O-O 9. Ne2 { ?! why do the knight goto that square? }
9... Qh4+ 10. Ng3 { ?! what about Re8? } 10... Re8 11. c3 { ? this allows... }
11... Nxd3+ 12. Kd2 { forced but it allows... } 12... Nf2 { fork } 13. Qc1 Nxh1
{ and heresigned. This game is a f2 sac and a double check and a fork. extremelyinstructional. }
0-1
|
[Event "fiercequeen at it again (part 2)..."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2-sep-18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "fiercequeen"]
[Black "jpmorgan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1666"]
[TimeControl "3+10 blitz"]
[WhiteElo "2059"]
{ a new victim... } 1. e4 d5 { never understood this weird gambit... } 2. exd5
Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8
{ most people try Qa5, d4, to be followed by Bd2: this onehas more sense... }
4. d4 { Nonetheless, } 4... c6 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. Bd3 e6 7. O-O
{ White is doing fine... } 7... Nb6 8. Bf4 Nd5
{ the only active Black piece, isgoing for grabs... } 9. Nxd5 cxd5 10. Re1 Bd6
11. Bg3 Ne7 12. c4 O-O 13. c5 Bc7
{ makes you wonder, who teaches this guys chess... } 14. Bh4 Qd7 15. h3 Ng6 16.
Bg3 Bxg3 { finally... } 17. fxg3 b6 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Rxe5 bxc5 20. dxc5 Qc7 21.
Qh5 { not mocking around... } 21... g6 22. Rg5 { this is goingto be nice... }
22... Qxc5+ 23. Kh2 a5 24. Rf1 Kh8 25. Qh6 { the plot thickens... } 25... Ba6
26. Bxa6 Rxa6 27. Rxg6 { boink... } 27... Qc4 { really??? } 28. Qg7#
{ we do noteven bother, to take Rf8... } 1-0
|
[Event "Western States Open, Reno, Neva"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "1995.10.27"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Woodbury, Alan E."]
[Black "Class A Player"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1860"]
[TimeControl "40/2"]
[WhiteElo "1925"]
1. e4 c5 { This started as a Sicilian. White to play. } 2. c3
{ White playsthe Alapin Variation. } 2... e6 3. d4 d5 4. e5
{ Transposes to the Advance Variationof the French Defense. } 4... Nc6 5. Nf3
cxd4
{ Not technically the best, becauseit opens up the c3 square for the White knight. Better is 5... Qb6. }
6. cxd4 Bb4+
{ This check is not particularly good, because it will likelytrade his good bishop. It is either that or waste time moving it again. }
7. Bd2 Qb6 8. Be2
{ White was familiar with this position and knew thatthe d4 pawn is poisoned. }
8... Nxd4 { Black takes the bait. } 9. Nxd4 Qxd4 10. Qa4+
{ Black loses a piece. } 10... Bd7 11. Qxb4 Qxe5 12. Nc3
{ White made thismove with the hope of catching his opponent in another trap. }
12... d4 { Blackthinks that he can win a piece. } 13. Nb5 d3
{ Black falls for the trap. According to Alan, at this point his opponent looked smug. }
14. Nd6+ { NowBlack can't avoid losing his queen. } 14... Qxd6 15. Qxd6 dxe2
{ Black gets whathe wanted, but the price was too high. White to play. } 16.
Bb4 { Threateningmate. } 16... Kd8 17. Qf8+
{ It is technically faster to play 17. Rc1 Rc8 18. Kxe2Rc6 19. Rxc6 bxc6 20. Qb8+ Bc8 21. Rd1+ Ke8 22. Qxc8#. }
17... Kc7
{ Here Whitetook the rook and eventually won, but it seemed to me that he could dobetter... }
18. Rc1+ Bc6 19. Qd6+
{ If 19... Kc8 20. Ba5 b6 21. Rxc6+ Kb722. Rxb6+ axb6 23. Qxb6+ Kc8 24. Qc7#. If 22... Kc8 23. Rb8+ Rxb8 24.Qc7#. }
19... Kb6 { Mate in 5. } 20. Qe5 a5 { Mate in 4. } 21. Bc5+
{ If 21... Kb522. Qxe2+. } 21... Ka6 { Mate in 3. } 22. Qc7 Kb5 23. Qb6+
{ With three differentways to mate on the next move. } 1-0
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.08.04"]
[Round "-"]
[White "bufferunderflow"]
[Black "e2toe4"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1490"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1488"]
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 { Kings Gambit, accepted } 3. Nf3 Bc5
{ and here we'redone with my knowledge of theory } 4. d4 Bb6 5. Bxf4 d5
{ White hunts thebishop and enables itself to retake the pawn on f4 (I'm pretty sure thishas some name, I think I've seen this quite often). }
6. Nc3 Bg4
{ Blackdecides to pin White's Knight and leaves the Pawn on D5 defended only bythe Queen... so White decides to take it }
7. exd5 Ba5 8. Bb5+
{ Now Blacktries to pin the knight, such that the Queen can retake the pawn. Whitecounters by a check on B5. }
8... c6
{ The other option I saw for black was Nd7,which would also have saved the pawn }
9. dxc6 bxc6 10. Ba4 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 { Black gives away the pair of bishops. }
11... Qa5 12. Qe2+ { White tries to buildup some pressure } 12... Ne7 13. Bd6
{ White builds up some pressure (mate on Qxe7)and wants to snatch of the knight }
13... O-O 14. Qxe7 Na6 { Black prevents a mateon Qxf8 } 15. Bxc6
{ A big blunder by white, a better option would have been15. Bb3. Of course it could not have prevented the check on Qc3. I actuallythought about castling short for a few moments... don't know why I didn't...Possible variation would then have been: 15.Bb3 Qxc3+ 16.Kf2 Bxf3 17 xf3Qxd4+ 18. Kg3 h6 And white would have a naked King, but the pair of Bishopsand thereby a piece in advance (although a pawn less) }
15... Qxc3+ 16. Kf2 Qxc6 { What had to come... } 17. Ne5
{ Trying to increase the pressure } 17... Qxc2+ 18. Kg3 Be6 19. Qb7
{ Attacking the Knight and the Rook at once } 19... Qc3+ 20. Nf3 Qc8
{ Defending the Knight by a counterattack } 21. Qb5 Rd8 22. Rhc1
{ Startingagain a counter attack and slowly starting to move into a bad position }
22... Qd7
{ Up to this point an exchange could have been the startingpoint toan balanced endgame. Although white has an isolated pawn (which would gethard to defend) }
23. Rc6 Nb8 24. Ne5
{ Again: attacking instead of defending,following a tactic, which has in this situation no hope for success }
24... Qe8 25. Bxb8 Raxb8 26. Qc5 f6
{ The next blunder... I thought i Take the Bishopand then I'll have a forkat C6... but this fork is no real fork, sind blackcan escape while checking... }
27. Rxe6 Qxe6 28. Nc6 Qe3+ { and the endingstarts... } 29. Kg4
{ This was esspecially bad since it allows Qe2+ and thento save one Rook.... }
29... Qe2+ 30. Kh3 Rb5
{ What had to come... white beginsto get desperate and takes a pawn... leaving the King defenceless }
31. Qxa7 Rh5+ 32. Kg3 Qe3+ 33. Kg4 Rg5+ 34. Kh4 Qf4+
{ And I resigned, seeingthe mate in one } 0-1
|
[Event "Casual Game, http://www.itsyourturn.com"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2014.07.13"]
[Round "-"]
[White "John Coffey, Chess Player at Lar"]
[Black "bmfn"]
[Result "1-0"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 dxc4 4. e3 b5 5. a4 Nf6 6. axb5 cxb5 7. b3 Be6 8. bxc4
Bxc4 9. Bxc4 bxc4 10. Ne5 { Or Castles or Qa4+. Now black shouldplay Nbd7. }
10... Qc7 { ?? } 11. Qf3
{ This is a common trap in this opening. The game is over, but what follows is interesting. }
11... Qb6 { 11. ... Nc6is the only thing that made sense here. } 12. Qxa8 Qb4+
13. Bd2 Qb3 14. Ba5
{ With the threat of Bc7. White would also like to play Nd2 and Rb1. } 14...
Qb2 15. O-O Qb5 16. Bc7 Nd7 17. Nxd7 Kxd7 18. Bxb8 Ke6 19. Qe4+
{ Blackresigned. Now if ... } 19... Kf6
{ 19... Kd7 20. Rxa7+ Ke8 (20... Kd8 21. Bc7+Kd7 22. Bf4+) 21. Bd6!! Also threatening Qa8+. This is postmortem computeranalysis. I would have never seen this brilliant move. f6 22. Rxe7+Kd8 23. Qa8+ }
20. Be5+ Ke6 21. d5+ Kd7
{ 21... Qxd5 22. Ra6+ Qd6 23. Bxd6+Kd7 24. Be5 And there is no stopping mate. }
22. Rxa7+ Kc8 { 22... Kd8 23.Ra8+ Kd7 24. Qf5+ e6 25. Qxf7+ Be7 26. Qxe6# } 23.
d6 exd6 24. Qa8+ Qb8 25. Qc6+ 1-0
|
[Event "GameKnot Blitz, http://gameknot.com/"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2021.07.05"]
[Round "-"]
[White "danaseper"]
[Black "justxsomexguy"]
[Result "0-1"]
1. e3 c5 { I play my go to defence, the Sicilian. } 2. c4 Nc6 3. Qb3
{ Bringingthe queen out this early in the game fills me with a quiet confidence.. }
3... e6 4. Bd3
{ An odd move hindering the development of his dark squared bishop.. } 4... Nf6
5. h3 d5 { Striking out at the centre, all by the book stuff.. } 6. cxd5 Nxd5
{ If he's not careful Kdb4 is coming.. } 7. Bb5 { He was careful... } 7... Bd7
8. d4
{ Now he strikes out at the centre but this only helps free upmy DSB range and wins a pawn... }
8... cxd4 9. e4 { Ahhhh, I wasn't expectinge4.... } 9... Nf6
{ Attacking the pawn instantly... } 10. f3 e5 11. Bg5 Be7 12. Bc4 O-O 13. Nd2
Na5 { I'm not keen on that queen and bishop ganging up onf7... } 14. Qc2 Rc8
15. b3 Nxc4 16. bxc4 Qa5
{ I wanted to tie up the knighton d2 with a pin and maybe gang up on c4.. } 17.
Rc1 Be6 18. Kf2 h6 19. Bxf6 Bxf6 20. h4 Qb6 21. Rb1 Qd8 22. g3 d3 23. Qa4 Qd4+
24. Kg2 Bxc4 25. f4 b5 26. Qb4 exf4 27. Ngf3 Qc3
{ I thought simplifying here would benefitme more, I'm 3 pawns up, his king is not looking too safe and I'm on theascendancy... }
28. Qxc3 Bxc3 29. Nxc4 bxc4
{ Now I have 2 connected passedpawns only moments from promotion... } 30. Rhc1
Ba5 31. Rb7 d2
{ Now he hasreal problems, he either has to give up a piece or find a defence unlikeanything seen before... }
32. Rd1 c3 { Backing up my boy in front... } 33. Rxa7 c2
{ This is the final position, considering I haven't played chessfor a number of years and this being my second or third game back I'm superhappy. }
0-1
|
[Event "ruurd47's mini-tournament -The Comeback"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2016.04.24"]
[Round "-"]
[White "kldr"]
[Black "jokeriswild"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1367"]
[TimeControl "3d+1d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1504"]
1. d4 d5
{ This is a game I played recently against kldr. I actually lostmy queen in this game due to playing one night with one too many beers:). At any rate, I resumed playing the next day and was able to make thecomeback. If anything this serves as an example never to resign even ifyou lost a piece in error or in my case too many ale's. }
2. h3 Nf6
{ Condensingthis annotation somewhat- Normally I would not open black this way withthe pawn advancing to D5, typically I start with Pawn to C5, but at anyrate after the pawn moves, white moves pawn to H3 which I think was a nota good choice for development. Black responds with NF6 }
3. Nf3 Ne4
{ White,moves NF3, Black responds with Ne4. I could of developed another piecerather than this response, but if you notice, black knight has a greatposition here for the time being. There are minimal threats to the blackknight pending whites additional moves. If white moves his knight to advancehis pawn to F3, Black can move to KG3 and fork the bishop and rook. Alternatively,the other moves will end in a swap }
4. Bf4 Nc6 { White advances Bf4, blackdevelops NC6. } 5. a3 Be6
{ Again white advances pawn to a3. Not sure ofthe value of that move. Black develops Be6. }
6. e3 f6
{ White advancespawn to e3, black pawn to f6 ( limiting the advancement of the white knighton f3) }
7. Nbd2 g5
{ White NbD2, I was not interested in exchanging so blackpawn to g5 to pressure white bishop. At this point most of black's piecesare on focused on white's Kingside. }
8. Bh2 Qd6
{ White retreats to Bh2,and this where my (too many ale's came into play) Black Qd6. }
9. Bxd6 Nxd6
{ White bishops captures Queen. Black captures white bishop (Nxd6) } 10. Be2
Bh6
{ Next day, white B32. Opening up King Side Castle- why not?.Black plays Bh6. }
11. O-O O-O-O
{ Both sides castle. I knew that sinceloosing my Queen I had one shot at winning this game and it was to bombardthe King side. }
12. b4 Rdf8
{ White pawn to b4 ( I would assume White wasmaking the run to break the pawn line of Black) I continue with the planand position Rdf8 }
13. b5 Nd8
{ white advances pawn to b5, threatening blacknight. Black retreats Nd8 which is likely a better position anyway, providingsome additional protection to blacks King if needed. }
14. a4 g4
{ whitecontinuing the pawn push. Pawn to a4. Black can now focus on breakingWhite's line. Black pawn to G4 ( frees the back bishop, creates a semiopen line and pressures White to either double the pawns or move the Knight) }
15. hxg4 Bxg4
{ White captures Black pawn, Black retakes with bishop (Bxg4).White Knight does not really have a whole of moves except for the rim ofthe board or retreat to E1 }
16. c4 Rhg8
{ White continues pawn push withC4. Here is Blacks opening and where things start to fall into alignmentfor black. Can you see it starting to happen? Black rook to g8. Black isalready down -6 in the game, so I am not interested in exchanging. I wantto bishop to go to H3. }
17. cxd5 Nf5
{ White captures cxd5. Black Nf5.Building up more pressure on King side. Note White Queen is inactive, asif White Bishop on e3. Great example of ' it is not how many pieces youhave, but how many that are active' }
18. a5 Bh3
{ White continued with pawnpush with Pawn to a5. In hingsight a huge error for white as it just allowedme to further develop. Black now can continue with the plan of advancingBh3 }
19. g3 Bxe3
{ white advances pawn to g3. Black advances Bxe3. Why didI do that and risk loosing black's most powerful bishop and already beingdown -6? The reason is white has a decision to make and even though I willloose the bishop, this allows for black to take white pawn on G3 and checkthe King, or alternatively advance Ne3 to fork the white queen and rook.So a sacrifice but for better options }
20. Re1 Rxg3+
{ White sees the potentialof the fork, moves rook to e1. Black keeps the pressure on white Rxg3.White cannot take bishop as he will be in check and he cannot take blackbishop as he will be check. What to do for white? }
21. Kh2 Bxf2
{ whitemoves Kh2. Black takes Bxf2 threatening white rook and protecting blackrook }
22. Ne4 Ne3
{ White advances Ne4, Black plays Ne3. (Buying time toreposition Knight) } 23.
Qc1 Ng4+
{ White queen retreats. Black moves Ng4.Now a much better position and checking the King }
24. Kh1 Bg2#
{ Checkmate!I was down -4 when the mate occurred. Hope you enjoyed the game. }
0-1
|
[Event "Challenge from charleshiggie"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2007.07.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "charleshiggie"]
[Black "renniemay"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2281"]
[TimeControl "7 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1958"]
{ This interesting game asks for your opinions at vital points, and asksfor you to find the mate in 6 moves at the end. All in just 24 moves! Enjoy! }
1. d4
{ This was one of my first loses on Gameknot. At the time both ofus had much lower grades - I was 1711 and she was 1774. }
1... d5 2. c4
{ Thestandard queen's gambit. If black takes, white quickly recaptures the pawn. }
2... e6 { The queen's gambit declined. } 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O
{ Thisis all pretty standard stuff } 6. Qc2
{ This is slightly unusual however.At the time I was playing a line 6......h6 7. h4!? and if hxg5, 8 hxg5and if the knight goes to anywhere other than e4 white has Qh7 mate! afterNe4 white captures twice on e4 and has two pawns and an attack for thebishop - I am not sure if it really sound, but it is an interesting line.Black here decides on another option. }
6... dxc4
{ This again is slightly unusual.Normally black waits until white has moves the Bf1 before taking here -thus saving a tempo. }
7. Bxc4 Nc6
{ And now with this move, black takesus out of the opening databases. } 8. Nf3
Nb4 9. Qd2 b6 10. e4
{ With thewonderful gift of hindsight, I think now that this is over-optimistic.Perhaps white should just play 10. 0-0 here, perhaps followed by Ne5 andf4. What do you think dear reader? }
10... c5 11. d5
{ Again d5 seems too aggressive,especially with the king still in the centre. 0-0 seems best still, althoughit is hard to see any advantage for white. Any thoughts dear reader? }
11... Nxe4 { I hadn't seen this. } 12. Nxe4 exd5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Bxd5 Rd8
{ White positionis poor. I thought now, if I have to return the piece, I may as well geta pawn for it, and played Bf7+, rather hoping for Kxf7, Qf4+ and then Ican castle at last. My opponent finds an improvement however! Perhaps Bxa8is best here - giving up the queen for two rooks? After 15. Bxa8 Rxd2,16. Kxd2 perhaps white can still make a fight of it. What do you thinkdear reader? }
15. Bxf7+ Kh8
{ and Kh8 was the unexpected improvement. Ifnow 16. Qf4 then Nc7 wins a whole rook, as 17. Ke2 is met by Ba6 mating,so white would have to play Kf1. }
16. Qe2 Nd3+ 17. Kf1 Qxf7
{ So now blackrestores material equality, but the poor position of white's king, makesit very hard for white. }
18. Neg5 Qd5 19. Ne5
{ I was rather hoping herefor Nxe4, 20. Qxe4 Qxe4 21. Nf7+ Kg8 22. Nxe5 and white is not so bad,with the exchange of pieces, the poor king position is less of a handicap.Unfortunately she doesn't fall for those! }
19... Nf4 20. Qe4 { Ok black to playand mate in 6! } 20... Qd1+
{ Did you find it? Of course, if I take the queen,she recaptures with the rook, giving mate, so my next move is forced. }
21. Qe1 Ba6+
{ I guess actually a computer would suggest Nc4 or d3 now,as it delays mate by one move, but I am not a computer! }
22. Kg1 Ne2+ 23. Kf1 Nc1+
{ and now I throw in the sponge, before she plays 24. Kg1, Qxe1mate! } 0-1
|
[Event "The Annotation Project II"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.12.08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "8ballphoenix"]
[Black "daddyk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1537"]
[TimeControl "3d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1578"]
1. f4
{ Having been soundly beaten by Daddyk as black, after dropping myqueen rather too easily, in a game I believe he will shortly be annotating, it was time to seek revenge with the white pieces. Prior to starting thistournament, I felt that with the 3 point advantage, and the queen, Blackreally should be able to win, however, as the games have progressed, Ihave found myself doing better with the white pieces than with black. }
1... d5 2. Nf3 g6 3. e4 dxe4 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. Bxf7+ Kd7 7. Qxg4+ Nxg4
8. Be6+ Kc6 9. Bxg4
{ Up to here seems pretty standard, with Black favouringc6 over e8 for the king, and white having nothing better than the captureon g4 otherwise the defecit would be too much. }
9... Bg7 10. Ne6 Qg8
{ ...Bg7;10 Ne6 to get the knight onto a good restricting square, blocking the pawn,and forcing the queen to g8 defending the bishop all seem favoured as thebest moves so far. }
11. d4
{ Making way for the DSB as this pawn move preventsBxb2. If black replies with exd3 e.p. then b2 is still under attack butblack loses the e4 pawn, which I am more than happy to see the back of- it could get in my way later. }
11... exd3 12. cxd3 h5 13. Bh3
{ I want to keepthe bishop on this diagonal to prevent the king escaping via d7. Part ofthe point of whites queen sac was to expose the king, and I want him tostay exposed! }
13... Na6
{ Is he making way for the rook? Or is he looking atc5 with the intention of shifting my knight? I like my knight where itis. Or maybe looking at b4, then d3+ (or the more obvious but easy to dealwith c2+). Either way, I don't think the knight plans on staying that faraway for long. }
14. d4
{ I can't prevent it going to c5 and b4, and I don'twant it going to c5. If it goes to d3 via b4, no problem. With his kingon the c-file I don't mind swapping his knight for my bishop with a rookcheck. Note after the pawn swap on move 11, I still have a pawn in thesame place, but I also have his e5 pawn out of the way, and a clear viewdown the c-file to that king! }
14... Nb4 { As expected. } 15. Na3
{ Na3 prevents...Nc2+, allows the rook to defend the bishop in case of Nd3+, and startsmoving in on the king. }
15... Nd3+
{ Again, as expected, but the bishop is morerestricted now than the rook would be if allowed out! }
16. Ke2
{ I don'tsee any immediate danger to my king, and my castling rights have gone anyway,so why not release the h1 rook, and force the knight into an immediatedecision... (If Nxc1, then still Raxc1 as the h1 rook will be more usefulon the d or e file, whilst the a1 rook is no good to man nor beast remainingstuck on a1 or b1. }
16... Nxf4+
{ Moving the knight was required, but this surprisedme. Maybe he saw a chance to remove my LSB as 17. Nxf4; ...e6 probablyallows the king to escape to the back row. I didn't look too deeply intothis as I'm sure my opponent either overlooked Bxf4, or felt getting justa pawn for the knight was better than allowing Rxc1+, and it does givehim an open file near my king if he gets a chance to use it. }
17. Bxf4
{ Bishop developed, and no escape for the king via the d-file without droppingmaterial. }
17... Bf6
{ Presumably intending shifting my bishop from the h2-b8diagonal with ...g5 and ...h4. Or, looking to play ...Kd7 without droppingthe bishop, but if ...Kd7, my knight probably ignores him and waits forhim to go to e8 or c8, then goes to c7+, winning a rook for nothing, ora queen for a bishop. }
18. Rac1+
{ But, Rc1+. If ...Kd7 then Rxc7+, threateningto double up on the c-file and the king is looking rather cramped. If ...Kd5then Nxc7+ and he doesn't have many places left to run, being surroundedby white pieces. Or... }
18... Kb6 { The easiest option for me as white - matein 2. } 19. Bxc7+
{ and black resigned due to ...Ka6; Nc5#. I am findingthat the knight on e6, especially with blacks pawn on e7, is playing amajor part in restricting blacks ability to get his queen and rooks intoplay. I think a key part of this victory was in preventing blacks knightfrom reaching c5. Thanks for the game, Kieran. }
1-0
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2014.02.23"]
[Round "-"]
[White "alisonhart"]
[Black "adui"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1186"]
[TimeControl "5 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1216"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 { Standard starting moves in Reti's opening } 2... Bg4
{ A veryaggressive stance from black - rather than amass a center my opponent thoughtit would be best to hinder my development. }
3. b3
{ ? Not a bad move byitself, but 3. e3 would have helped me more: e3, g3, Bg2, O-O and thenworry abou the queenside development. }
3... d4
{ ! Hinders my development andmakes it very complicated for me to get a center. If 3. e3, this neverwould have happened. }
4. Bb2 Nc6 5. d3 e5 6. e3 dxe3 7. fxe3 Nb4
{ ? Myopponent is fixated on achieving Nc2 - a fork, but (a) this fixation ishis downfall and (b) the c6 knight was already doing good work. Nf6, Be7,Bd6 were all fine. }
8. Be2
{ This move is a surrendering motion from me- again 3 e3 would have allowed me to fianchetto as normal...it's amazinghow much that tiny error has haunted me. But why not Bxe5 here? It wouldbe better to take with the knight, but my opponent's previous move concedesmaterial, so why not take it? }
8... e4
{ ! This could be very dangerous - alonger strategy that was king focused rather than fork obsessed may wellhave done me in. Again punished for a lesser move (Bxe5 would have obviouslyprevented this) }
9. Ne5 Bxe2 10. Qxe2 exd3 11. Qf2 Nc2+
{ The promised land!Fork at last, fork at last!! } 12. Kd1 Nxa1
{ ??????????????????? Nf6, Qe7,and Qd7 all basically win for black - or at least create a scenario whereI am forced to sac the exchange, but the fork obsession is too much toignore. }
13. Qxf7# 1-0
|
[Event "Canadain Bacon mini-tournament I"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.04.13"]
[Round "-"]
[White "elyhim"]
[Black "hansbro"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1822"]
[TimeControl "3d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "2071"]
1. c4
{ I have been experimenting with the English system in resent games.I like it because it requires very little opening memorization and it isvery flexible. Meaning that it can be played against just about anything. }
1... e5 2. g3 Bc5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nc3
{ one of the things that make the Englisha difficult system to play is the subtle strategies at play. }
4... d6 5. Nf3 Be6
{ not a typical move for black but none the less it does cause me grief.It is a good move because it develops a piece with tempo. }
6. Qb3
{ ??This move is bad. I played it because it threatens Qxb7 but playing Qxb7soearly is rarely a good move in most positions. The reason why Qxb7 is almostalways bad is because Black can place his rook on the b-file forcing thewhite queen to the edge of the board where it can possibly be trapped ortaken out of play. As a result If white does decide to play Qxb7 then extremelyaccurate play is required to gain a plus from the extra pawn Also theidea of 6. d3 is fine for black 6...h6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc610.Qh4 0-0 11.0-0 Bf5 12.b3 Re8 13.Bb2 Ne4 14.Qxd8 Raxd8 15.Nd5 Nc5 16.Rfe1Rd7 17.Rad1 = Perhaps the idea 6. d4!? exd4 7. Nxd4=/+ and the gameis only slightly better of white because of his control over the centerand space }
6... Nbd7 7. d3 O-O 8. Qc2
{ This proves that Qb3 was a bad move.Black has a slight edge now because he has a lead in development and betterattacking chances. My thoughts about Qc2 were to play a2 followed byb4. }
8... Ng4
{ Whoa horsie!! Black must think he has something here but ifhe continues on his present course he will find himself biting on granite.It is way to early in the game for these kind of tactics }
9. O-O { the f2square is well defended now } 9... f5
{ !? Black is coming quick and furious andhas no justification for the weakness created on g5. ...h6 is betterto keep the knight out of g5. }
10. Ng5
{ Surprise! I am sure Hansbrosaw this but I think he underestimated the importance of his light bishopbeing gone. }
10... Bf7 { Avoids the fork on d3 } 11. Nxf7 Kxf7 12. Bxb7
{ Withhis counterpart gone this bishop becomes a terror of destruction } 12...
Kg8 13. Bd5+
{ The question for me was 'What to do with the Bishop?' My originalintention was to play BxR but after Hansbro played ...Kg8 I smelt a trap.So I decided to play a in between move in order to give myself time tothink about it. The problem of 13. BxR is that at this point white'scontrol of the light squares is critical to the defense of the king. }
13... Kh8 14. Bxa8
{ In the end I decide to play BxR and I'll be dammed the consequences. } 14...
Qxa8 15. Nd5 Ndf6 16. b4 Bd4 17. Bb2 Nxd5 18. cxd5 Bxb2 19. Qxb2 Qxd5
{ White is better now because of the major weakness of c7. } 20. Rac1
{ attackingthe soft spot in black's position. } 20... f4
{ ? Wow give black credit for tryingbut he is going to lose his teeth on granite. }
21. Rxc7 fxg3
{ Black hasthrown a hale Marie and hopes white will do something stupid } 22.
hxg3
{ Black has nothing and is now a minor piece behind. White has an activerook and potential for a queen side pawn storm }
22... Qe6 23. Rxa7
{ ?? wow thisis a real Homer Simpson moment. If I recall I made this move in the middleof a boring business meeting and my lack of concentration cost me dearly. Qc1 would be winning }
23... Qh6 { Mate in 3 good job Hansbro } 0-1
|
[Event "Down in points, not in game."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "23-Jan-07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "bassking12"]
[Black "afm742"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1377"]
[TimeControl "5d+2d, 7d max"]
[WhiteElo "1206"]
1. e4
{ As I don't know hardly any ways to open the game up, I like to makethis my first move as white. }
1... e5 2. Nf3 { More of my standard proceedings } 2... d6
{ I see this move a lot but I don't understand it as it blocks in thedark squared bishop. }
3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4
{ I prefer this over Nxd4 as thisgets my queen involved in the game early. Sometimes it pays off, othersnot so. I'm a gambler by nature. }
4... Nc6 5. Qd5 Nf6 6. Bg5
{ Pinning down theknight for now. Allowing me one more move at least before I must decidewhere to put my queen. }
6... Be7 { Freeing up the knight. } 7. Qd3 Nxe4 8. Qxe4
{ A fine exchange for me. } 8... O-O 9. Bxe7
{ I'm not sure what the plan was.I think I over looked the knight. } 9... Nxe7
{ Easy take. } 10. Ng5
{ At this pointthe plan is to get my queen to h7 for checkmate. } 10... Bf5
{ Blocking the queenspath and putting it in danger as well as protecting h7 once my queen goesto h4. }
11. Qh4
{ Keeping the h7 dreams alive. However now I must dispatchof that pesty bishop. }
11... Nc6 12. Bd3 { In an attempt to get rid of the bishop. } 12... h6
{ And the dream dies. } 13. Bxf5 { If hxg5 then Qh7#. } 13... Qe7+
{ Distractingme from all attacks. } 14. Kd1
{ I saw this as a better play because thenmy h1 rook could get into play faster than my a1 rook could. }
14... Qf6 15. Bh7+
{ This forces the king to h8 from there I could move my bishop andthe pawn on h6 would be unable to take my knight on g5. And also protectedby the knight it could stay there and keep the pressure on black. }
15... Kh8 16. Nc3
{ Simple development to get more pieces involved. Maybe Re1 couldhave led to some better playing options though as well as control of thefile. }
16... Nb4 17. Be4 { Not sure why I pulled out of there. } 17... Qd4+
{ Again takingaway attack moves and distracting me. Also, further forces me left because18. Ke1...Nxc2 and then I loose my a1 rook. }
18. Kc1 Rae8
{ This meansmy bishop is all but immobile because I don't want the black rook to havethe e file. }
19. a3 { Forcing the knight away. } 19... Nd5 20. Nxd5 f5
{ Nifty moveforcing me to either give up the e file or be creative. } 21. c3
{ CreativeI was. } 21... Qe5 22. Nxc7
{ More attacking forcing my opponent to defend. } 22... Rc8 23. Nce6
{ More forced moves. } 23... Rf6 24. Bxb7 Rb8 25. Bc6 Rg6 26. f4
{ Nf7is the much better move. Not sure how I missed it. If 26. Nf7 assume 26...Kg827.Nxe5 and the queen is no more. }
26... Qe3+ { A nice counter by black. } 27. Kb1 Qb6 { In search of Qxb2# } 28.
b4
{ Kc2 would have been better as it wouldallow my king movement behind the pawns and if blacks queen took b2, therooks have each others back. }
28... Qxc6 { Looking for Qxc2 putting pressure onmy rook. } 29. Kb2 Qxg2+
{ Forcing me to b3 as moving to b1 or c1 loosesmy h1 rook. } 30. Kb3 Qd5+ 31.
c4 Qd3+ 32. Ka4 { Forced. 32. Ka2...Qc2# } 32... Kg8
{ This frees the pawn to take the knight which is a further distractionas I have to deal with that and the roaming queen. }
33. Rad1 { Ra-c1 wouldhave been better. This would have protected my c4 pawn. }
33... Qc2+ 34. Ka5 { Onlyplay. } 34... Qxc4 35. Qh5
{ Looking to get the rook. } 35... Qb5#
{ I never saw it coming.Literally, I over looked it totally. This was a great game all the wayaround. A few over looked moves meant the demise of me in this game. }
0-1
|
[Event "World Open (1), 06.30.2007"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "FM Ray Robson"]
[Black "GM Varuzhan Akobian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2627"]
[WhiteElo "2380"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6
{ Not the most popular move in this position,but a very interesting one. Black wanted to surprise his opponent. }
4. Ngf3 c5 5. exd5 exd5 6. Bd3
{ ?! This move loses a tempo; here Black realizedthat his opponent probably isn't very familiar with this variation. Themost natural move here is 6. Be2. }
6... c4 7. Be2 Nc6 8. b3 b5 9. a4 Bf5 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Qxa8 12. bxc4 bxc4
13. O-O Be7
{ Here Blacks opponentspent a lot of time and came up with this very interesting piece sacrifice. }
14. Nxc4
{ !? Normal play would be 14. c3 Nf6 15.Nh4 Be6 16. Qc2 Qc8 17.Re1 0-0 18. Nf1 with roughly equal chances. }
14... dxc4 15. Bxc4 Kf8
{ A verydifficult move to find. Black realized he will not have time to castle,making his king vulnerable in the center in an open position. For example,15. ... Nf6 16. d5 Na5 17. Bb5 Bd7 18. Bxd7 Nxd7 19. Rel and White hasa strong attack while Black's king is still mired in the center. }
16. Bf4 Qc8 17. d5 Na5 18. Bd3 Nf6 19. d6 Bd8 20. Re1 Nc6 21. Bc4 h6
{ Here , blackfelt comfortable about his position because his pieces are working togetherand are all well defended. But he still needs to bring his h8-rook intothe game. }
22. h4
{ The idea behind this move is to stop ... g7-g5. However,black thinks this move is too slow; better is 22. Bb5 with the idea ofc2-c5 and the position remains unclear. }
22... Kg8 23. Ng5
{ Here white, in timepressure, attempts to complicate the position with a second piece sacrifice,but unfortunately for him black has a defense. }
23... hxg5 24. hxg5 Ne4
{ If 24....Be4? 25. d7! (25. gxf6?? Rh1 ! 26. Kxh1 Qh3 27. Bh2 Qxg2 mate.) ...Qxd726. Qxd7 Nxd7 27. Rxe4 and white is 'back in the game.' }
25. Qd5
{ Betterwas 25. d7 Qxd7 26. Qxd7 Bxd7 27. Rxe4 Bf5 28. Re8 Kh7 29. Rxh8 Kxh830. Bxf7 Bxc2 white has some drawing chances. }
25... Qe6 { Now black is winning. } 26. Qxc6 Rh1+
{ ! Black saw this strong idea before capturing the knighton g5. } 27. Kxh1
Nxf2+ 28. Kh2 Ng4+
{ It is stronger to play this intermezzobefore capturing on e1 in order to force the white king to the uncomfortableh3- square. }
29. Kh3 Qxe1 30. Qa8 Ne5+ 31. Kh2 Qh4+ 32. Kg1 Qxf4 33. Qxd8+ Kh7 34. d7 Qd4+
35. Kh1 Qxd7 36. g6+ Kxg6 37. Qb6+ f6 38. Be2 Qd2 39. Qf2 Qxc2
{ White resigns. } 0-1
|
[Event "What appears good, might actually be bad."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2012.01.01"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jkarp"]
[Black "adivela"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2075"]
[TimeControl "5d+2d<10d"]
[WhiteElo "952"]
{ In this particular game, I forgot that you should not make a move justbecause it appears move. Instead, moves should be made because they aregood. I learned this from a mentoring game but forgot that lesson in thisgame. }
1. e4 { The King's Pawn Play. } 1... c5
{ As we know, this is the, 'cornerstone'Sicilian Defense. This defense is studied by masters and grandmasters,and this is how Bobby Fisher beat a well known Russian player in a famouschess game. }
2. Nf3
{ ! Jack Stockel has told me that this is the way tohandle the Sicilian defense. Then, if black plays d6, white should respondwith d4. }
2... d6 { Her continuation of the Sicilian Defense. } 3. d4
{ My continuationof the Open Sicilian. } 3... cxd4
{ Of course, this was black's best move here,and Jack Stockel has also told me that in the past, when I played withhim. }
4. Bb5+
{ ? When I did this with Jack Stockel, he said that he wasnot crazy about this move. }
4... Nc6
{ Of course, she could have also playedBd7, but I am not sure if this candidate or Bd7 was better, in this position. That is because I will still force an exchange and get a pawn back, when5.Bxc6+, bxc6 16.Nxd4 are played. }
5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. Nxd4 Bb7
{ She madethis move to form a, 'Fianchetto' with her dominant bishop. } 7. O-O
{ Idecide to castle on the king side, where it is safe to do so, and thisis still my favorite move. }
7... Nf6
{ Now she starts to develop her knightbecause she wants that pawn, but I do not see that threat. }
8. Bg5
{ Thisis where I make my first serious blunder. This move appears good becauseI am now threatening to capture her knight with Bxf6, in my attempt toforce it away. However, it is actually ?? because the knight is not pinned,so my e pawn is not protected. Therefore, she will capture that free pawn,when Nxe4 is played. Better would have been Qf3, Nd2, or f3. }
8... Nxe4 9. Nf5
{ ?? I have no idea why I made this move, but it is another seriousblunder because she will be able to capture another free piece, when Nxg5is played. This time, however, it is my bishop. }
9... Nxg5 10. Qd2
{ I chosethis candidate to chase away her knight, so this was !, in my opinion. }
10... Ne6 { Now, she is forced to pull her knight away. } 11. Re1
{ I do not knowwhy I made this move because her knight was already protected by her fpawn. }
11... Qb6
{ In this position, she is threatening to capture my pawn withQxb2, but I am not about to let that happen. }
12. b3 { Therefore, I madethis move, so it is !. } 12... g6
{ In this position, she is threatening to capturemy knight with gxf5, but I will not let that happen, either. }
13. Ng3 { Therefore,I chose this candidate. } 13... Bg7
{ She made this move to form her second, 'Fianchetto'. I recently found out that two, 'Fianchetto's' from the same player israre and hard to find. }
14. Nc3
{ I chose this candidate because it bringsme one step closer to connecting my rooks. }
14... Qa5
{ She made this move inorder to attack my knight with her queen and bishop because it gives meless protection. After all, Jack Stockel would say, 'count your pieces'. That is because she is protected by two pieces, but I am only protectedby one piece. }
15. Re3
{ Not ? However, it would have been better to connectthe rooks with Rd1 because my a pawn is already protected by my knighton c3. }
15... Bh6
{ She chose this candidate to pin my rook, so this was !! Thatis because I will loose my queen, if I move my rook. This is the firsttime that I have seen my rook pinned. }
16. Rae1
{ Therefore, I connectmy rooks, this time, because both of my rooks are now on the e file. However,that will not help because my rook will be exchanged with her bishop whenBxe3 followed by Rxe3 are played. }
16... Bxe3 17. Rxe3 d5
{ I think that she madethis move to trick me. That is because she probably wanted to set a trapwith a, 'Deflective Sacrifice'. In other words, it is likely that shewanted me to capture her pawn so that she could capture my knight. However,I was not falling for her trick. }
18. Rf3 { Therefore, this is played. } 18... d4
{ Now, she wants to capture my knight, so she attacks my knight withher d pawn and queen. However, I cannot move my knight because it is pinned. If I retreat the knight, she will capture my queen with Qxd2. }
19. Rd3
{ Therefore, I protect the knight with my rook, but I could have protectedmy knight and queen Ne4. Consequently, it is not the best move, and itis actually ??. As a result, my knight will be exchanged for her pawnwhen dxc3 followed by Rxc3 are played. }
19... dxc3 20. Rxc3 Rd8
{ In this position,she now threatens to capture my queen with Rxd2, so I must move my queenaway from danger. }
21. Qh6
{ ?? This looks good because it protects myqueen and, 'boxes in' her h pawn, but this is my biggest blunder. In fact,'this looses immediately' as Jack Stockel would say. Qe2 would have beenmuch better and my best move because it still protects my queen. Then,if she plays Qxc3, I respond with Qxc3. }
21... Rd1+ { This is a very serious check,so I do not have options. } 22. Nf1
{ That is because this move is forced. } 22... Qxc3
{ As a result, I inadvertently give away a free rook. Consequently,I am far behind, at -13, and she has an inevitable mating pattern againstme. That is because she will be able to mate me, as soon as she is ableto play Qxf1#. Therefore, I resign because I do not, 'stand a chance'here. It is not a good idea not to make a move just because it seemsgood. After all, 'don't judge a book by its cover', as they say. Instead,it is important to answer the, 'why', questions in chess. That is becauseyou do not know if a move is good, unless you know the logic behind, youknow what makes the move good or bad. }
0-1
|
[Event "Destruction Streak #5"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "-"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Destroyer333"]
[Black "Milionairre44"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1337"]
[TimeControl "5:00 +10"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
{ Hello, and welcome to my 5th entry of my Destruction streak. This wasyet another short game, and around this point, I could obviously tell Iwas improving by practicing. I hope you enjoy it. }
1. e4 { I started offwith intentions to open up the d-file. } 1... e5
{ He responded with e5, a commonopening move. } 2. Nf3
{ I protected my future pawn placement and began witha three or four knight opening. }
2... Nc6 { He protected the piece that I wasthreatening. } 3. d4
{ I stopped congestion of the queen. Best to get thisout of the way, for my future plans will need it. Also, I threatened thepawn- now with 2 pieces. Not leaving my pawn en prise however. }
3... exd4 { Hetook the bait...I mean piece...as I planned out my next move. }
4. Nxd4 { I traded off and took his pawn in revenge. } 4... Nxd4
{ He then took my knightwith his. It took me long to understand that at this point my queen couldstill attack him. It also helped my plan greatly. }
5. Qxd4 { I took himwithout a second glance. } 5... b6
{ He moved out. A move I saw coming. He wasplanning on taking me with his Dark Squared Bishop. }
6. Bf4
{ I moved outmy bishop, to allow my rook an opening in case of instantaneous attack,however my knight still stood in the way. }
6... Bc5 { As if I predicted the future,he attacked. } 7. Qd2
{ I easily defended, staying off the back line to keepmy plan intact. } 7...
Nf6 { He developed his knight nonthreatening. } 8. Na3
{ Ideveloped mine in return. Serving a double purpose, also opening my rook.A better move would have been to develop towards the center, however. Still,though, I opened outside, taking the enemies DSB (dark squared bishop)out of play for the future. }
8... Bxa3 { Gone, he performed a trade and it wasoff the board. } 9. bxa3
{ I decided this would be okay. Although the b-filewas open, it was not going to be a large threat. }
9... Nxe4 { He put my queenin danger and I had to act. } 10. Qd3
{ Still remaining off the back line,my plan was in motion. My next mission was to remove his d-pawn. }
10... Nc5 { Hisknight threatening me yet again, I was in danger. } 11. Qd2
{ Back to therunning block, I returned to original position. } 11... Nb3
{ Forking my Rook andqueen, I knew i was in trouble. } 12. Rd1
{ I pulled my rook, in any othercase, a queen would be necessary, however for this, I needed that rook. }
12... d5 { Crucial mistake, not noticing. He pulled his d-pawn out. } 13. Bc4
{ I threatened his knight, actually in an attempt to move the d-pawn. } 13...
dxc4
{ Blunder, he took the bishop not the queen. Oblivious, he lost himselfthe game. }
14. Qxd8#
{ Checkmate. I took his unprotected queen and he hadnowhere to go. Good game Millionaire, if you had noticed that, it wouldhave gone differently. Good game. Thanks everyone, hope you enjoyed. Staytuned for the next one. }
1-0
|
[Event "Friendly Mini-tournament"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "14-Jul-08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "nevada1234"]
[Black "chezter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "846"]
[TimeControl "3d+1d, 5d max"]
[WhiteElo "1022"]
1. e4 { Standard opening. } 1... e5 { good response } 2. Qf3
{ So he is looking forthe 4 move mate...to defend against this you either advance your pawn tof6 or your knight to f6 }
2... d6
{ but not this!. ..Remember, the f7 pawn isthe weakest pawn on the board and is often the subject of intense interestby your opponent }
3. Bc4
{ SO here, if you missed it so far, you have threeoptions...p-f6, kn-f6 or bishop -e6 }
3... Ne7 { but not this, not this at all! } 4. d3
{ this was an unnecessary move because the game is over. } 4... Nbc6
{ youare still not defending f6!! } 5. Qxf7+ { and this is why you need to! }
5... Kd7 6. Be6# 1-0
|
[Event "Tournament game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "Lajos Portisch"]
[Black "Milko Bobotsov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "GM"]
[WhiteElo "GM"]
{ A brilliantly played game by Portisch. He smashes Bobotsov's K-side toflinders remarkably quickly. }
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 { Book. } 5. Bd3 b6 6. Ne2
{ Avoiding the pressure from Bobotsov's QB, which willbe fianchettoed. } 6...
Bb7 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 Be7 { Portisch has a slight leadin development. } 9. d5
{ If Bobotsev accepts the sacrifice, Portisch canput him under tremendous pressure. }
9... exd5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 { Taking the plunge. } 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. Nf4 Bb7 13.
Re1
{ Pinning the Bishop. Now Portisch's advantagein development is turned to account. }
13... Nc6 { A mistake. Bobotsev should unpinthe Bishop at once. } 14. Nh5 Kf8
{ One move too late. } 15. Nxg7 { Rippingopen the King-side. } 15... h6
{ KxN is met with Q-N4ch, and the King-hunt wouldbe on in earnest. } 16. Nf5
Bg5 17. Nd6 Qc7 18. Bg6 { Portisch tightens thescrews. } 18... Ne7 19. Bxf7 Rh7
20. Bb3 Qc6 21. Nxb7 Qxb7
{ Bobotsov is a Pawndown with a shattered position. He fights on for a short while longer. }
22. Bxg5 hxg5 23. Qd3 Rg7 { The hammer blow is about to fall. } 24. Rxe7 Kxe7
25. Bd5 { Bobotsov resigns, as there is no defense to Q-K4ch. } 1-0
|
[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.09.08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "giuseppe-five"]
[Black "austin_p"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1306"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1452"]
1. e4 e5 2. c3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5 Qxd5
{ Bringing one'sQ out early is 98% of the time BAD-BAD-BAD. } 6. Be2 Bc5 7. O-O
O-O 8. h3
{ ANY move of the 3 castle P's weakens the position. Try not to do so unlessreally necessary. When your opponent does this, try to get a R or Q onthe N-file and your B can take h3 (as K is pinned). }
8... Rd8 9. Nh2 b6
{ Notthe best. Your black B is nicely placed on his K diagonal, and b6 allowsb4, chasing your B away (while b3 could have been a fall-back square).Also, with the threat of Bf3 (which was why we must assume he moved hisN to such a lousy place), your Q would have to move, and b6 unprotectsyour N as well. Yes, it would have been nice to fianchetto, but your Bwas already well placed attacking his h-pawn. }
10. b4 Be7 11. c4 Qd4 { Good! } 12. Nc3
{ Wrong move. He could have saved the R without a sacrifice! Soyou can figure it out for yourself, I'll put the right continuation inthe next move. }
12... Qxc3
{ Go back to 11. ... Qd4 and look at 12. Qb3. Now youcan't take the R! It highlights the secondary reason why it's bad to movethe Q out early, and that is frequently it can be trapped with so manypieces still on the board. The primary reason masters practically NEVERbring a Q out early is that it allows the opponent to just threaten theQ continually with minor pieces and pawns, thereby developing his positionwhile the Q is forced to run around. Anytime your opponent brings out hisQ, look to do just that--attack his Q while developing--and also lookto trap his Lady. Sometimes you'll note he has only 2 or 3 squares to goto, and you can deploy a piece to cover those squares before he realizeshe's in trouble (that is, sometimes you have to plan and 'create' the trap!). }
13. Bd2 Qd4 14. a3 Bf5
{ Good. Develops and attacks at the same time...just what you want to do whenever you can. }
15. Be3 Qd7 16. Qb3 Bxd3
{ Thiswas risky, as 9 out of 10 times your opponent will pin the B against yourQ (as he does here). YOU HAVE TO LOOK OUT FOR THOSE, as you could easilyhave lost the B. Note that it is also a nice trap, and I've done it deliberatelymany times (that is, allow your opponent to have one more attacker thandefender on a piece, and then when he takes it with a B or N, you pin itand win it--it happens all the time!). }
17. Rfd1 e4 18. Bf1
{ I don't understandthis. f3 had more potential to give you problems... } 18...
Qe6 { Correct, unpinningthe Q, but you have to give the P back. } 19. Bxd3 Rxd3
20. Rxd3 exd3 21. Qxd3
{ Note the position here. Aside from being a piece up, you have 4 piecesdeveloped, he basically has 2 (as the N is so far out of position). ThisSIGNIFICANTLY weakens his offensive and defensive capabilities, so 2 thingscome to mind. Try to take advantage of this quickly (like a hockey gamepower play when the opponents are one man short), and also try to keepthe N in the bad place if you can (sometimes putting a B on the diagonalhe can move to works, or sometimes you just have to advance one pawn andhe's stuck). This annotation is a lesson in occasionally studying the strategic,not tactical, position. Also, though it's not a factor here--as the pawnstructure is OK for both--but strategic assessments usually focus moreon pawn structures (i.e., taking advantage of--or creating!--isolanis,doubled pawns or passed pawns). }
21... Rd8 { Good. Develop and attack simultaneously. } 22. Qc3
{ Another strategic note here... his black B is wonderfully placed;yours not as well so. His black B is therefore worth more, so to speak.Thus, Ne4 (harrying his Q, which is usually a good thing to do) followedby Bg5 would allow you to chase his black B away from its nice perch, orto exchange it. Note that an exchange is in your favor, as his B was betterplaced. You can think of the exchange as worth maybe a tenth of a pointin your favor. All these tenths of a point (like creating an opponent'sisolani or doubled P, or exchanging a c/f P for a d/e P) add up and frequentlydecide a game (especially in master play). }
22... Nh5
{ Sometimes it's necessary,but as a general rule try NOT to put your N on the edge of the board ifyou can at all help it, or unless it gives you some advantage QUICKLY.Note that a N on the edge only has 4 squares to move to, while when it'scentralized it has 8 possible squares. Thus a N on the edge is literallyHALF as powerful! Another real danger is that if your opponent puts a Bishop3 squares straight out from the N (e5 here) then the N can never move (unlessotherwise protected). This is frequently a big factor--and a trap--in endgames (when the N has nothing else to protect it). }
23. Re1
{ Good. Do thiswhenever you can (i.e., putting a R on the Q-file), as it almost alwaysgives your opponent problems. }
23... Qf5
{ Its good that you moved your Q (orelse he had Bxb6 and then Bxa7, which could have lost you the game), butf5 was the wrong square. You have to have a 'sixth sense' about putting2 pieces on the same row 2 squares apart WHEN PAWNS ARE AROUND TO THREATENBOTH OF THEM!!! This is a 'MUST REMEMBER'--burn it into your chess RAM,so it's always there. }
24. g4
{ There is a way to save your N! I'll mentionit next move, but look for it here... }
24... Rd3 { Good. Develops and attacksboth Q and RP. } 25. Qc1 Qe5
{ Wrong, for 2 reasons. 1. Try NEVER to moveyour Q 'INTO' a pin!!! With this move he can move his black B anywherefor FREE and do ANYTHING, as you're forced to move your Q in reply. Themost dangerous result is he gives a check and you lose your Q; 2d worstis he takes a major piece for free; 3rd worst is he gobbles up somethingelse (here he can win your b and a pawns). 2. Qg6 would have saved yourN. }
26. gxh5 Qxh5 27. b5 Ne5 28. Qc2
{ Not good. His Q was nicely coveringhis R, B and RP, and now it covers none of them--noticeably weaker. Youwere right to take the RP in reply. }
28... Rxa3 29. Bf4 Bd6 30. Qb2
{ Your nextmove here is correct (I think, with limited review). You had 4 nice offensivemoves: RxP, Nf3+, NxP and the beautiful triple-fork at Nd3, but they allseem to have problems with a back-rank mate (or cost you a piece). So,f6 was a good defensive reply. It's not great, as it gives you an isolani,but it does have 3 advantages: 1) it gives the K an escape square; 2) itallows your Q to protect e8; and 3) it removes his B from protecting hisN (which could/should become significant later as you should eventuallytake his RP). }
30... f6 31. Bxe5
{ Correct. Your N was VERY powerful where itwas, so this exchange was maybe worth a quarter-point for him. }
31... fxe5 32. c5
{ A missed opportunity here, perhaps. Instead of BxP next, better heremight have been RxP (threatening RxN, and then Rh1+ and Qh3#). If he takesthe B now, then after RxN he is in serious danger of being mated, so heis therefore 'likely' to move his f-pawn, probably to f4 I'd think (notethat he can't move the N either without getting mated). This then allows:33.f4Bxc5+ 34.Kh1Qf3+ 35.Qg2Qxg2+ 36.Kxg2Rb3 (wins another pawn)37.fxe5Rxb5 38.e6Be7 ... and now, with 3 connected passed pawns, youhave an easy win. I said 'likely' above because there is one better continuationfor him (but a player at his level could easily not find it): Qb3+ andthen Qd5. So RxP isn't a guaranteed win, but it was a very good chance.As a minimum--at no loss of material--it eliminates two pieces in frontof his K and gives you current and future mating chances. }
32... Bxc5 33. Rxe5
{ Instead of Qg6+ next, how about: 33....Rg3+ 34.Kf1 forced,or else Qd1+ mates 34. ... Qxh3+ winning a pawn 35.Ke2Rg2 this should win the N also }
33... Qg6+ 34. Kh1 Rxh3 35. Qa2+ Kf8 36. Qd2
{ 36. ... Bd6, pinning his R and threatening Rxh2# (if he moves his R away),was powerful next. Note that if he tries Rg5 you have mate in 3 (I'll leavethat for you to find). Now that I look at it a bit longer, anotherpossibility is a rook sac: RxN, KxR, and then Bd6 locks his R in place.If he tries to check you with his Q he'll lose the R outright. His bestmove (which he may not find) seems to be f4, and then you win the exchangeback. Then, after Qe5+ you can win his e-pawn and then it's 5 pawns foryou to 1 one pawn for him. Unfortunately, if he plays right he can winyour c and then a pawns, but that's a big 'if', and you'd still have apretty straight forward win. I think I like the first option above better.The 2d clears all the minor pieces--something you want to do when you're3 pawns up--but the 1st choice should simply win the exchange, and thenyou're 5 points ahead. }
36... Be7 37. Qf4+ Qf7 38. Qg4 Rh4 39. Qc8+ Qe8 40. Rf5+ Bf6 41. Qb7
{ If he had taken your c-pawn you had Qe4+, winning his R. } 41... Kg8 42. Qf3
Be5
{ Nice thought, but a mistake. It's not enough to analyzethe board where the pieces are, you ALSO have to analyze the board wherethe pieces WILL BE after every possible check, or attack on your Q, ordiscovered attack, etc. In particular, you have to look at every possible'check' coming up, so this was really foreseeable. 'More better' here,much mo' better actually, would have been Qe1+ and then Qe4, pinning andforcing a trade of Q's--a VERY good thing for you. This reinforces theconcept of looking at 'every possible check' pretty much EVERY move (aseven subtle position changes can lead to a whole different result!). }
43. Qd5+ Kh8 44. Rxe5 Qf8 45. Rf5 Qe8 46. Rf3 h6 47. Qd3
{ You still had a verydecent chance to win this. After his planned Rh3, an exchange of rookswould have let you capture his b-pawn, and with that capture I think youhave the winning position! }
1-0
|
[Event "French Defence"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "04-Jun-07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "richard_pitts"]
[Black "koozzy_1999"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1763"]
[TimeControl "5d+2d, 7d max"]
[WhiteElo "1928"]
1. e4
{ I don't normally play 1.e4, and doing so was one of the most interestingexperiences of this French mini-tournament. This game is imperfect likeso many of mine, but it was a good slugfest. Analysing it was interestingand I was surprised at the depth of some of the variations. }
1... e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2
{ I experimented with this and the advance variation. I think 3.e5is too primitive. With the Tarrasch, white aims for positional pressure.Whilst it will never refute the French, it causes headaches for Frenchplayers as if Black isn't careful he will find himself in a joyless position. }
3... c5 { The most principled reply, aiming to liquidate the centre. } 4. exd5
{ 4.Ngf3 is the other main move. } 4... exd5
{ !? Nowadays 4...Qxd5 is the mainline with Watson analysing this in some depth in Play the French. The moveplayed accepts an isolated pawn in return for free and easy development.Uhlman won some terrific games with this line, but I think with best play,Black has a lifeless and dull position. }
5. Bb5+ Nc6
{ 5...Bd7 is the othermain move after which 6.Qe2 gives white a pleasant position. }
6. Ngf3 Nf6
{ ? - Apparently this is a mistake. Black needs to keep the option of...ng8-e7 open so ...Bd6 was better, despite the potential loss of tempo. }
7. O-O Be7
{ !? I am not sure about this as white gains a tempo for hisdevelopment. However, I think making it tell is another story: 7...Be6keeping the e-file closed is an alternative. }
8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nb3
{ Whiteexploits the tempo to develop his knight. We now have a standard Frenchdefence isolated queen pawn position (IQP) position. White has more space,but black is sound and has harmonious piece development and often targetsthe white king whereas white plays to create a second weakness on the king-side.The person who understands the nuances of IQP positions will fare best. However I think the open e-file (rather than white having a pawn at e3or e2 in Queens Gambit positions with IQPs which black can target) meansthat if white can securely blockade the d-pawn he should be better. Korchnoiand Uhlmann are experts on the black side, Karpov on the white. }
9... Be7
{ Iam unsure about what follows and think the play could be improved on byboth sides. 9...Qb6 is the theoretical move, but after 10.Qe2 Ne4 11.c4,Black is toiling as the exchange on d5 will force concessions. }
10. Ne5
{ !? I thought about 10.Nbd4, but I wanted to get the two bishops by forcing10...Bd7 }
10... Qc7
{ ?! I think after 11.Nd4 white is clearly better. However,I thought I had a winning position and went for it with... }
11. Bf4
{ ?This has a tactical flaw which with correct play creates a material imbalancewith unclear play. 11. Nbd4 would have given white a clear plus: the IQPwould be securely blockaded and white would have more space and a leadin development. }
11... Bd6 12. Nxc6 bxc6
{ !? After 12...Bxf4 13.Nxa7 Kf8 14.Nxc8 Bxh2 15.Kh1 Be5 16.c3 Qxc8 17.Re1 Bd6 white has a slight plus basedon his superior pawn structure, but his drafty king will make him nervous,especially in the event of a well-timed ...h5-h4-h3 push. Whether 12...bc6is correct or not depends on the assessment of the resulting material imbalancearising from two pieces versus a rook and pawn. }
13. Re1+ Be6
{ Blockingthe e-file is perfectly logical. 13...Kf8 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Bd3 Ng4 16.g3 Qh6 17.h4 Qf6 18.Qe2 g6 19.f3 Nh6 20. Qe5 and after the queen exchange,white is for choice, but with reduced material it will be a hard task towin, especially if black can keep the rooks on. }
14. Nd4
{ ! The point being14...cb5?? 15.Nxe6 fe6 16. Rxe6 Kf7 17.Bxd6 with 18. Re7 to follow andBlack's king is too exposed to live. }
14... Bxf4 15. Bxc6+ Ke7 16. Bxa8 Rxa8
{ I originally thought 16...Bxh2 was better but the problem is that after17.Kh1 Rxa8 18.g3 Bxg3? 19. fg Qxg3? 20.Nf5 win the queen. Now we havea rook and a pawn versus two bishops. If white can activate his rooks hewill be not worse but black's pieces are all very active. }
17. g3 Bd6 18. c4
{ ? After 18.Nb5 white eliminates the two bishops. 18...Qc4 19.Nxd6 Kxd620.b3 Qc3 21. Re3 Qb2 22. a4 Kc7 23. Rb1 Qa2 24.Qc1 d4 25. Rd3 and whitewill win the queen is a rather fantastic if unlikely variation. 18...Qc5and neither side has anything better than the draw by repetition via 19.Nd4as 19.Nxd6 Qxd6 gives Black a safe king and more active pieces. 19.Nd4Ne4? 20.b4! Qc4 21.f3 gives white the better game. }
18... Re8
{ ?? The losingmove. 18...dc4 19.Nb5 Qc6 20.Nxd6 Qxd6 21.Qf3 Qd5 22.Qa3 is a draw 18...Qxc4!?19. Nf5 (I can't make 19.b3!? work) Kd7 20.Nxd6 Kxd6 21. b3 with an initiativefor white although there is lots of play left in the position and if Blackwas playing to win, this would be my suggestion. }
19. cxd5 { White now hasan overwhelming position. } 19... Nxd5 20. Nxe6 fxe6
21. Qxd5
{ I thought thiswas a rather cheeky finish - White exploits the pin on the e-file. }
1-0
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2018.08.30"]
[Round "-"]
[White "eric2jin"]
[Black "thubery"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1218"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1296"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 { New opening } 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bb5+ { Check } 4... Bd7 5.
Bxd7+ Nxd7 6. Nc3 e6 7. Nf3 Ngf6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. O-O
{ Castling short } 11... h6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. f4 Be7 14. Rf3
{ Rook development } 14... Rac8 15. Rg3 a6 16. Qd2 b5 17. f5 Bg5 { Darn... }
18. fxe6 fxe6 19. Qe2 Bf4 20. Rf3 g5 21. g3 { Die! } 21... b4 { Trade } 22.
gxf4 bxc3 23. bxc3 Qg7 24. Qxe6+ { Check! } 24... Rf7 { ???????? } 25. Qxc8+
{ Bye bye! } 25... Rf8 26. Qe6+ { Back } 26... Kh8 27. Qe5 { Pinned! } 27...
gxf4+ { Discovered check... does it matter! } 28. Qxg7+ Kxg7 29. Raf1 Rg8
{ Winning by a lot! } 30. Rxf4 { Free pawn } 30... Kg6 31. Rf6+ Kg7 32. Rf7+
Kg6 33. R1f6+ { Check } 33... Kh5+ { Check } 34. Kf1 { Easy get-out } 34... Rg5
{ !??!?!! } 35. Rf5 { Black resigns } 1-0
|
[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.10.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "kaspanatola"]
[Black "iakobos"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1272"]
[TimeControl "5 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
1. e4
{ .Black handled badly the opening phase and allowed me to temporarilysacrifice my queen to get a great attack that at least would render mesome material advantage }
1... Nf6 { Alekhine's defence } 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4
{ I prefera sideline from the mostly played d4, to keep some pressure on the knightand to populate the centre with my pawns, by playing c4 (the Steiner variation)now I plan also to play at some time Nc3 not hampering the c pawn development. }
3... Nb6 4. d4
{ c4 is protected by Bf1, so d4 is the natural way of progressto populate the centre with pawns psicologicaly is also interesting tocontrapose the hyper-modernist ideas behind 1...Nf6 with the more classicalapproach of gaining space in the center. }
4... d6 { To create some tension andto open the c8-h3 diagonal for the bishop }
5. Nf3
{ I delayed the commonexd6 so I can finally develop a piece, I expect Bg4 to pin my knight, havedoubts about the recapturing piece if black captures my e5 pawn, probablyknight is a better choice to keep the imbalance of the position as f6 isbad for black's pawn structure the knight will be nice planted on e5, althoughtoo early on the game, it might prove useful latter on. }
5... Bg4 { pins my knight } 6. exd6 cxd6
{ I was a bit surprised now, expected black recapturing withexd6 instead, although not terribly bad and frequently played it blocksdark squares bishop further more, the d6 pawn can in the future providea nice target if black opts for development of the e pawn, a fianchettois an option in-line with the hyper-modernism (main line after 7.Nc3 Nc68.Be3 g6). }
7. Nc3
{ further development is needed, although with more spaceI lack developed pieces, My Nc3 looks good behind the pawns as with theearly c4 I gained more space in the centre }
7... Nc6 8. Be3
{ overprotectingd4 to allow Qxf3 if needed and developing one more piece } 8...
g6 { here it isthe expected fianchetto... } 9. d5
{ and now some little trap instead ofthe usual and natural h3, black is almost forced to capture Bxf3 as Ne5allows c5 Nxe5 and Bb5+ to exchange queens with a piece up }
9... Ne5
{ ? butunderstandable, as exchanging a bishop for a knight is usually perceivedas bad, unless it inflicts some structural damage to the pawn structure. }
10. c5
{ And now the trap is set: 10...dxc5 11.Nxe5 Bxd1 12.Bb5+ Nd7 13.Bxd7+Qxd7 14.Nxd7 Kxd7 15.Kxd1 a piece up for white 10...Bxf3 is slightly betterbut also not good due to 11.Bb5+ Nbd7 12.gxf3 and white has more spaceand can still attack black's knight }
10... Nc8
{ Up until now we were followingKrapivin, V. - Gorbushin, A., 1997, Russia, 1-0; now black deviates butthe tactics are still on with this move both Bxf3 and Nbd7 stands any chancesagainst Bb5 }
11. Nxe5 { As Bxd1?? leads to losing material } 11... Bxd1
{ ?? black'sgreed starts a forced sequence } 12. Bb5+ Qd7 { only move } 13.
Bxd7+ Kd8 { only move } 14. Bxc8 Rxc8
{ ? Kxc8 is better as Nxf7 only gains a pawn,but black light squares bishop is miserably placed so black is bond tolose more material anyway. dxe5 is not better although regaining some materialback allows for Bxb7 attacking the rook and after Rb8 then c6 protectsthe bishop and creates havoc in black's field }
15. Nxf7+
{ The fork on Kingand rook seals black's fate. Black's lack of space, the king in the centreand uncoordinated pieces allowed for some nice tactics that at least wouldhave allowed white to win a piece, it turned quickly in to a bunch of piecesand the game. }
1-0
|
[Event "poisoned meal: the meal that fought back "]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.05.27"]
[Round "-"]
[White "kamshaft"]
[Black "milich2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1218"]
[TimeControl "3d+1d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1210"]
{ a poisoned pawn loses a game of about equal although i should mentionthat a bit was down to a rook blunder }
1. Nf3 { soon i think i should trysomething different } 1... c5 2. e4 Nc6 3.
Ng5 g6 4. Qf3 { threatens kamshaftmate } 4... Nh6 5. Bc4
{ threatens mate again } 5... e6 6. d3 { freeing bishop } 6... a6
{ 1/2?pointless } 7. Nh3 { attacks knight } 7... Nd4 8. Qd1 { 1/2? to me } 8...
Bg7 9. c3 { knightsare under attack } 9... b5 { starts a big trade } 10. cxd4
bxc4 11. Bxh6 Bxh6 12. O-O cxd4 13. dxc4 e5 14. f4 d6 { we are equal } 15. Qb3
f6 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. c5 Bg7
{ an annoying pawn chain runs through the centre of the board } 18. Ng5
{ poisoned piece } 18... Qe7 { ignores it for now } 19. Nh3
{ 1/2 a questionmark to me } 19... Qxc5 20. Qa4+ Bd7 21. Qb3 f5
{ allows knight where i want it } 22. Ng5 Rb8 { ?? blunder } 23. Qxb8+ Ke7 24.
Qb7 fxe4 { takes a poisoned pawn } 25. Rf7+ Kd6 26. Qxd7#
{ nice little mate but look at the rook and knightin the corner doing nothing on their original square }
1-0
|
[Event "OTB WTW Game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "7/6/18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Joe"]
[Black "Nathan Resika"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2300"]
[TimeControl "81 min"]
[WhiteElo "1319"]
{ I mentioned about the WTW club in some games. In fact, one example wasmy last annotation which was the game between clashofpawns and easy-win. Well, Nathan is a very strong runner. In fact, he's about the same strengthas the Master Mater, easy19 or clashofpawns with a 2300 rating. This gamestarted in exactly the same matter as any WTW game. That's where a walkerasks for a challenge and gets it which is what happened here. Tom Walsh,who I was supposed to play in a tournament, was playing a game. Carl andJack were also playing. So, I was sitting there doing nothing for 25-30minutes, until Nathan came in. Just like with the thread, 'are all thewalkers sitting' in the WTWLTR club, I asked for a game with Nathan, asI wanted to make an annotation. The reason being is that he played a simultaneousmatch, and the board was set up the wrong way which made it impossiblefor me to notate. What's more is that this was his first time in 3 weeksbecause he played in US tournament, followed by, a family matter to takecare. So, after asking for this game, I got it. And, it was a WTW gamebecause I resigned since it was mate in 1. What's more is that it was howit should be where I gave the runner a run for his money since I threatening. How did it go down? }
1. e4 { I start off with my usual. } 1... c5
{ And, I wasn'tsure how Nathan would respond; but he answered with the Sicilian whichI was prepared for since I have the most amount of experience with thatdefense. }
2. Nf3 { So, I respond with the most common move. } 2... Nc6
{ This movealmost took me off guard. My anticipation was 2...d6 which is the mostcommon move in the Game DB. I would've tried to turn it into a SicilianNadjorf with 3.d4 since that's what I'm known to do. Not being used toit combined with other things, I used the database, and I'm glad I did. As I thought that this was an uncommon response; and that Nathan did thisto take me by surprise since Ken did something like that in our traininggame. But, this is the second most common move in the database. }
3. Bb5
{ Not sure what to do, I played this. As this is the move we see in theSpanish Opening. It works here. Slightly better, however, was still 3.d4. That's because it's the most common move in the GK database. Having saidthat, this is still very good and the second most common response to 2...Nc6. }
3... g6 { Not surprisingly, Nathan fianchettos, but I was ready for this. } 4.
O-O
{ As I treat this like a Morphy's or Berlins Defense by deciding tocastle right away. The thing to note is that in our very first game, duringa simultaneous match, I played very well. But, he won after I blunderedtwo pawns. The first of which occurred by being fixated on something,and thereby, failing to castle. Well, I wasn't going to let it happenthis time. }
4... Bg7
{ I expected this, so it was a conditional move, as Ihave my next move planned. }
5. d3
{ By opening up the center, as well as,a line for my Bc1. Not only that, but this gives me a solid pawn chain. }
5... Nf6
{ Of course, Nathan was ready for this. Likewise, I was also preparedfor this move. }
6. Bg5
{ So, I respond by developing, whilst, putting pressureon his other N. However, this is bound to fail because of his next movesince I'll have to go on the defense. That will cost me a tempo here. }
6... h6 7. Be3 Qb6 { Going back on the attack. } 8. c4
{ Instead of losing anothertempo, I defended this way. One reason is because a while back fiercequeenmentioned about a move like this to protect a piece. }
8... a6 9. Bxc6
{ ?!I didn't exchange just because it was possible. Instead, I did it becauseI thought that this was the only way to avoid losing a piece. The problemis that I had Ghost Vision here. I thought that after 9.Ba4 Qa5 10.Bb3,Nathan had 10...Na5, similar to after the Morphy's Defense. As there theexchange is forced. What I didn't realize is that the N is on the samewhich prevents black from being able to play 10...Na5. Therefore, it wasn'tforced here, but rather I didn't calculate accurately. That's becausewith Ghost Vision, you get the pieces; or things like where they're locatedmixed up which is what happened here. But, it doesn't work as Nathan willforce me to exchange my B for his N. With that being said, Nathan accuratelysaid that this exchange is going to favor him. That doesn't mean he hasa winning advantage, yet, but he'll be a little better off now since, asusual, the B was worth more then the N, as is usually the case. }
9... Qxc6 10. Nc3
{ In the meantime, I complete my development. Knowing what I justdid, I already start trying to figure something else out; which will happenin the next 3 moves, when I threaten mate. }
10... d6
{ Meanwhile, Nathan opensup a line for his Bc8. But, I was ready for this move. }
11. e5
{ That'sespecially since I try to break through here. But, Nathan won't exchangeright away. Being ready for what's to come, however, I will exchange afterhis next move since this pawn is also a danger. }
11... Ng4
{ I was wondering whatto do here. As I also considered retreating my Be3 to prevent his nextmove. But, I decide that this is of no concern because I have a plan forwhen Nathan captures on e3. }
12. exd6 Nxe3
{ BTW, I anticipated this move. So, it was conditional, and with that being said, I would've respondedwith 12...Qxd6 first, followed by, this move to prevent what I'm aboutto do. }
13. Qe1
{ This is where I gave him a run for his money. I alsoconsidered 13.fxe3 which is good, but I didn't want to expose my King. In most cases, I just play a good move because of what ION mentioned,but there are a few where I look for something more. Afterall, 'When yousee a good move, look for something better' as kenneth_fiore_3 and GM SusanPolgar have emphasized. This is one of those times. As I'm not only threateningto win back a piece but I'm also letting him take my R knowing that it'smate, if he takes. And, I learned how to apply this technique from Penelope80in one of her training games with duke69. Nathan said that this was interestingand that he was learning something from this move. }
13... O-O
{ Nathan accuratelypointed out that he could've defended with something else. He was implying13...Bd4, but he wanted to try something different. So, Nathan decidedto bring his King to safety. }
14. dxe7
{ I was trying to figure out whatto do here. In fact, I almost played 14.Qxe3 right away. But, I decidedto play this since I'm threatening his R with my passed pawn. The idea,and what blends into giving the runner a run for his money is playing theabsolute best that you can. }
14... Nxg2
{ My anticipation was that Nathan wouldstop my pawn with 14...Re8, but he captured here. Once again, I was wonderingwhat to do between taking the N or promoting. But, I decided to promoteat once since it wins his R. And, after he takes back, that's when I'llgrab his N. Similar to clashofpawns 11 year old student, where she gavehim a piece to see how he'd do with an advantage; Nathan was interestedin how it would pan out after I took his R and N. He wanted to see howI would handle things. }
15. exf8=Q+ Kxf8 16. Kxg2 Bh3+ { So, he continuedwith this move. } 17. Kxh3
{ ?? But, this loses right away, as Nathan pointedout when I resigned. I took to prevent loss of material. However, Mr.Resika pointed out that best was 17.Kg3, and the position still holds. I just didn't want him to take on f1 as I thought that it was a free R. But, after 17...Bxf1, 18.Qxf1 or 18.Kxf1 I'm still ahead by the equivalentof 2 pieces. }
17... Qxf3+
{ I resigned here as 18.Kh4 is forced, and then comes18...g5# which is mate. But, after 16...Bh3+, I'd still be safe and betteroff with 17.Kg3 So, this is an example of where to take is a mistake. Capturing on h3 is what allowed Nathan to swarm in and force this matingsequence. }
0-1
|
[Event "A Step In the Right Direction"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.05.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "easy19"]
[Black "jstevens1"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1784"]
[TimeControl "5 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "2228"]
1. d4
{ Hi everyone! After the last match against Master Freddy at leastI knew one thing! I couldn't do much worse against him could I? Well,if you are a fan of the eighties pop group Yazz you will know that 'TheOnly Way is Up, Baby .......' }
1... f5
{ 2. ....... f5 - Well, this game, althoughI eventually lose it, is a bit of an improvement. First of all, Freddydoes not give me a head start, at least I think he doesn't! He kicks offwith 1. d4 and I respond with f5, the Dutch Defense. Now the reason Idecided to go Dutch is the buzzword 'Stonewall'. I like it, because that,I feel, is the best way to deal with the Master Mater - Stonewall him!!!!! }
2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 c6 4. h4
{ 4. h4 - I am beginning to get accustomed toFreddy's little pawn pushes down that h file. Watch out for that one. The purpose of this is, if I put a pawn on g6 he will play h5, underminingthat pawn chain one way or another. }
4... Nf6 5. e3 e6
{ 5. ....... e6 - andhere is a Stonewall formation. I think the downside of this though isthat Fou Leblanc becomes a bad bishop. I have an uneasy feeling of dejavu here. I played the Dutch against Ion and I lost that game due to FouLeblanc's severely restricted movements. }
6. h5 { 6. h5 - discouraging g5- see my previous note. } 6... Bd6 7. Qf3 Qc7
{ 7. ...... Qc7 - after developingFou Lenoir to d6 to dispute the control of the h2-b8 diagonal, I decideto reinforce this control by moving Glenda to c7 and therefore a tradeof dsbs will be forced. }
8. h6 Bxf4 9. hxg7 Rg8
{ 9. ...... Rg8 - I 'lose'the g7 pawn but will get it back next move. There is no time to realisemy piece for pawn advantage because my rook on h8 is en prise. I cannotnow castle kingside and I must rack my brains as to how to clear the decksfor Henry to go queenside. I have a hunch that Freddy is gonna put hisking there ........ }
10. exf4 Rxg7 11. Nh3 Qe7 12. O-O-O { 12. 0-0-0 - .......he does! } 12... Nbd7
{ 12 ..... Nbd7 - I now plan to follow suit but I have workto do. Step 1, develop the knight. }
13. Ng5 Nf8
{ 13. ....... Nf8 - step2 - clear d7 for Fou Leblanc and add protection to the weak e and h pawnsafter Freddy moved his knight to g5 attacking them. }
14. g3 Bd7
{ 14. ......Bd7 - step 3 - Fou Leblanc moves to d7 clearing the way for Henry to castlequeenside. Will he be safe there? Fingers crossed! }
15. Qe3 { 15. Qe3- more pressure on that weak e6 pawn. } 15... Qd6
{ 15. ....... Qd6 - moving Glendaout of the way of a possible pin should Freddy line up his heavies on thee file. }
16. Na4 O-O-O
{ 16. ......... 0-0-0 - I now put Henry on the queenside,Freddy did query after I played the move why I did not play Ne4. I justwanted to get Henry clear of that e file. See my previous note as to whyI moved Glenda to d6. }
17. Nc5 Kb8
{ 17. ...... Kb8 - a precautionary moveto protect a7, but I wonder whether I should have played Ne4 here. }
18. Rd3
{ 18. Rd3 - something tells me that I allowed Freddy a tempo here. Jury, would you give my last move a question mark? }
18... Ne4 19. Rb3 Nxc5 20. dxc5 { 20. dxc5 - knight trade. } 20... Qc7 21. Nf3
{ 21. Nf3 - heading for e5 perhaps? } 21... Bc8 22. Ra3 Ka8 23. Be2
{ 23. Be2 - Freddy completes his development andclears the way for a rook to come to a4. Can I stop this, though? }
23... Re8 24. Ne5 Nd7 25. Kb1
{ 25. Kb1 - mmm, what is this king move about, is Freddyplaying Cat and Mouse? }
25... Nxe5 26. fxe5
{ 26. fxe5 - knight trade - at leastI do not have Freddy's horsies to contend with but that white prelate isgonna be turbulent! }
26... Qb8 27. Rh4 a6
{ 27. ...... a6 - this pawn is easierto defend on this square by a low value unit methinks! I also want togive Freddy as little room as possible to put his heavies on that a column. }
28. Rb3 Qc7 29. Rb6 { 29. Rb6 - a pile up on the b column now! } 29... Ree7 30.
Ra4 Qd8 31. Qb3 Qc7
{ 31. ...... Qc7 - I can do little room but shufflemy heavies around, now be prepared for big action! }
32. Bxa6 { 32. Bxa6- first a pseudo bishop sac. } 32... bxa6 33. Rbxa6+ Bxa6
{ 33. ..... Bxa6 - forced. } 34. Rxa6+ Qa7 { 34. ...... Qa7 - forced. } 35. Qb6
{ 35. Qb6 - a horriblemove. Rxa7 at once just gives Freddy Q+P for the 2 rooks, but this movewill net the c6 pawn as well and worse give that Wicked Witch of the Westtotal queenside control. }
35... Qxa6 36. Qxa6+ Kb8 37. Qxc6 { 37. Qxc6 - voila! } 37... Rg6 38. Qd6+ Rc7
{ 38. ........ Rc7 - forced to avoid losing further wood. } 39. b4 Kb7 40. b5
{ 40. b5 - a deadly pawn push. I now decide to throwin the sponge as I will have to give up my rook to avoid at least one ofthose queenside pawns from crowning. The game lasts precisely 40 moves. At least my Joblock defense prevented me from copping Old Matey, whichis a step in the right direction. Next time let us hope that I can avoidincurring any damage! }
1-0
|
[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2012.02.23"]
[Round "-"]
[White "kaspanatola"]
[Black "sbelanoff"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2176"]
[TimeControl "5 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "2049"]
1. d4
{ This game was a nice theoretical struggle, on a common top level(Anand, Kramnik, Shirov,...) opening variation, were white sacrifices thea pawn to grab the initiative, and exert a smashing center domain... Idisliked the follow up after the already played 21.dxe7 that just losesa great passed pawn, and went to play a novelty with the idea of infiltratingblack's 7th rank and pressure for the promotion of that same pawn... itpayed off and black blundered a rook for a pawn as he missed the easy combinationthat grants a promotion with check... }
1... Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4
{ Nxc3 bxc3 and I will have a strong pawn center butallowing black a queen side pawn majority }
6... Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2
{ I'll go for the main line sacrificing a pawn as in Kramnik,V - Anand,V;Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (2); 2009 }
9... cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4
{ still following Kramnik-Anand, but now the first choice has tobe made either Rxb7 diverging from the previous game but also played byKramnik sometimes, or Bg5 keeping on the game moves }
13. Bg5 h6
{ all thisplayed on Kramnik,V - Anand,V; Tal Memorial Moscow RUS (2); 2009, now Iwill chose to diverge, but still within know theory }
14. Be3 { divergingfrom the mentioned game, but already played } 14... Nc6 15.
d5 { pushing the pawnswith tempo } 15... Na5 16. Bc5
{ now I can threaten to capture the e pawn and protectmy bishop with the d pawn, granting me at least an exchange }
16... b6 17. Bxe7 Rfe8 18. d6
{ here it is the bishop is secure and my d pawn keeps it's steadyadvance }
18... Nc6 19. Bb5
{ pinning the knight and threatening to win the referredexchange... } 19...
Nxe7 20. Bxe8 Rxe8 21. Rc1
{ !? N, Leaving the knight 'en prise'I can postpone the capture of it as he doesn't have any better square Nc8loses immediately to a fork with d7, the pin with the rook on the d columnis also not feasible, due to dxe7 and promotion with check next move...on all other games played until here the choice was the obvious dxe7, butthis just loses that beautiful d6 pawn, Rc1 threatens Rc7 adding renewedsupport to the pawn }
21... Rd8
{ ?? just loses, the pin jumps to sight, but furtheranalysis, show that white can promote with check (tempo) and just thenpick the rook }
22. dxe7
{ temporarily sacrificing the queen and promotionwith tempo due to the check allows, me to pick up the rook next also... }
22... Rxd1 23. e8=Q+ { as planed... and black resigned facing major loses } 1-0
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "13-Mar-07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "mankind153"]
[Black "alfredjwood"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2041"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1810"]
{ I begin my annotation on move #31. Please go forward to move #30 andbegin. Al }
1. d4
{ I begin my annotation for the endgame on move 31. Pleasego forward to move #30 to reach the starting position, and then move forward. Al }
1... d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e4 Qa5 7. exd5 cxd5 8. Bd2
Bb4 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. a3 Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 13. Kxd2 O-O 14. Bd3
Nf6 15. Rhe1 Bg4 16. Re7 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Rab8 18. Rc1 Rfe8 19. Re3 g6 20. Rc7 Kf8
21. Bb5 Rec8 22. Ree7 Rxc7 23. Rxc7 Nh5 24. Ke3 g5 25. Bd7 a5 26. b4 axb4 27.
axb4 Nf4 28. b5 Ra8 29. Rc8+ Rxc8 30. Bxc8 b6
{ Observations: 1. Material is even. 2. Both kings are shut off from the Queenside. 3. The white king cannot penetrate the kingside. 4. d5 will requireprotection by Black. 5. The bishop cannot protect d4, the king will berequired. Black's plan: 1. Restrain the bishop. 2. Penetrate theposition with the knight, using the king to protect e5. 3. Attack onthe kingside, holding the White king near d3/e3 by threat to d4, so thathe cannot restrain the penetration of the black king. }
31. Bf5 { Centralizingthe bishop, a good idea. } 31... h5
{ Beginning the assault. The bishop is preventedfrom attacking h5 and d5 by the f7 pawn. If attacked later, the h5 pawnis mobile. }
32. Bd7 Ke7 { Freeing the knight from the defense of d5. } 33. Bc8 Ng2+ 34. Kd2
{ Missing the point. The King apparently moves to avoida perceived draw by repetition. }
34... Nh4
{ The knight threatens both Nxf3 andf5, which would restrain the bishop. } 35.
Ke2 Kf6 { The King moves to penetrate. } 36. Bd7 Nf5
{ Offering the exchange, attacking d4, and preparing for theKing's incursion. }
37. Kd3
{ The bishop is all white has. He cannot exchangeallowing the Black king in a position to seize f4. Once the black kinggets to f4, the kingside will fall. }
37... Nd6 38. Kd2
{ Attacking b5 and keepingthe bishop from e8 and f5. The bishop is now reduced to protection ofb5. }
38... h4 { White nears zugzwang. Black must find a way to advance his king. }
39. Ke3
{ Holding d4 and keeping the Black king from f4, the key squarein the position. }
39... Ke7
{ Beginning the isolation of the bishop, to enablethe kings' advance. } 40. Bc6
Nf5+
{ With this check, Black begins to repositionthe knight. The knight is an offensive weapon, the bishop has been reduced,almost, to a defensive piece. A bishop is an attacking piece and doesnot have the defensive powers of the knight. }
41. Kd3 { Holding d4. } 41... Ke6 { With d7 controlled, the king advances. }
42. Kc3 { The only square fromwhich white can continue to hold d4. } 42... Ne7
{ Black Frees f5 for the king! } 43. Be8
{ There is nothing else for white, but now the king will penetratethe White kingside. }
43... Kf5
{ Black now reaches his target - f4! It costsonly the f-pawn, and wins the game. }
44. Bxf7
{ This loses quickly. Whitecould have held out with Kd3, heading for e2 to protect the f3 pawn. }
44... Kf4
{ And, the plan has been carried out. The White kingside pawns mustfall. Black's d5 is protected by the knight and his other pawns are onblack squares, safe from the bishop. The Black king becomes the raider. }
45. Bh5 { Thinking to hold with Bg4. } 45... Ng8
{ The knight is headed for f6,keeping the bishop off of both g4 and h5, allowing the king to pick upthe pawn. }
46. Kd2 { Too late. } 46... Nf6
{ Not only is the bishop kept fromthe protection of f3, but the knight is also protecting d5, so the bishophas no attacking move and no defensive move. }
47. Bg6 Kxf3 { The end. } 0-1
|
[Event "Casual Game, https://itsyourturn.com"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2019.08.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "chessisnoteasy"]
[Result "*"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Qb3
c6 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. O-O h6 11. Bh4 Re8 12. Rac1 Nh5 13. Bxe7 Rxe7 14. a4 Rb8 15.
Ne2 Qb6 16. Qc3 Nf8 17. b4 Be6 18. b5 axb5 19. axb5 cxb5 20. Qb4 Rc7 21. Qxb5
Qxb5 22. Bxb5 Rbc8 23. Rxc7 Rxc7 24. Ne5 Nf6 25. f3 N8d7 26. Rb1 Ne8 27. Nxd7
Bxd7 28. Bxd7 Rxd7 29. Kf2 Nd6 30. Nc3 Nc4 31. Rb5 Na3 32. Rxd5 Rxd5 33. Nxd5
b5 34. Ke2 Kf8 35. Kd3 Ke8 36. Kc3 Kd7 37. Kb4 Nc2+ 38. Kxb5 Kd6
{ White to play. } 39. Nb6 { This sets a trap that Blackfalls for. } 39... Nxe3
{ White to play. } 40. Nc4+ { Forcing the exchange is aneasy win. } 40... Nxc4
41. Kxc4 f5 { White to play. } 42. d5
{ Other pawn moves alsowork. Now if 42... Ke5 43. Kc5 is easy. } 42... g6 43.
Kd4 g5
{ This is an easywin for White. However, one move is aesthetically the best. }
44. g4
{ Almostany pawn move is winning, and even 44. Kc4 is winning, but 44. g4 putsa stop to the Black pawn advance. White could have also played 44. g3preparing 45. f4. }
*
|
[Event "Queen V Two Rooks"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2013.05.20"]
[Round "-"]
[White "tactical_abyss"]
[Black "meilajb"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2146"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "2519"]
{ As usual, this was a very instructive game by TA. Like what we saw with,what was, the longest game I annotated before lasting 100 moves, and endingin a draw, it also has a lot of theory. The big difference is that I annotatedthat game because I was manipulated into doing so. But, in this case,I decided to annotate, on my own accords due to how much I've learned fromJoe's past games. In fact, there is even more so then average, startingat the very beginning. In addition, this is, by far, the longest gameI'm annotating, lasting 165 moves. However, I will not annotate everything,as what's important is what Joe noted. In this particular game, tactical-abyssexchanged both of his Rooks for the Queen which ended in a draw. }
1. e4 { The usual. } 1... e6
{ This time, however, black responds with the French Defense. But, it's still in book and follows the main lines. }
2. d4 d5 3. Nc3
{ Ithink, I would've exchanged here with 3.exd5, exd5 But, I like this movebetter. Remember when I talked about those complicated variations thatI watched by GM Susan Polgar in the French Defense involving the TerraschVariation where white kicks the Knight? Well, that is going to happenhere, and with that, I'm quite familiar with this. Although I forgot aboutand moved on (for the obvious reason since I couldn't remember) the variationsI studied with the Owen's and Grunfeld defenses, I didn't forget aboutthe Tarrasch Variation. In part, it was because it was by my favoriteGM, and the lines I studied were not only more common but much more difficultas well since it involves more theory. One reason being is the same, asif black were to play 4...Bc5 in the Ruy Lopez. The idea is that whitewill get a solid pawn chain which Susan notes. Therefore, I rememberedeven more of them and mentioned a little about this in bipolarcorners annotation,in his game against Reuben. So, the next few moves are still book andpart of that variation. In fact, this game will help remember Terrascheven better since it actually happens here. }
3... Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4
{ If Irecall correctly, Susan mentioned that f4 is often played in this variationto add another defender to e5. }
5... c5
{ I think that this is also part of themainline where black intends to exchange. }
6. Nf3 { But, Joe plays this,instead. } 6... Nc6
{ I think this is, as far as, I remember in that video. But,Susan said that this is a common move as black not only develops but bothKnights are working together to control the center. }
7. Be3 { Meanwhile,Joe continues with his development. } 7... Be7
{ So does black, and by doing this,he is one step closer to castling. } 8. Qd2
{ Unlike before, I don't knowwhy Joe played this. Instead, I would've completed development, as whitebringing my Bf1 into play. But, my inference is that it doesn't need tocome out right away since this is his good bishop. I think the idea isthat, once he castles, both rooks will be connected. If so, I do see thepoint. Back then, I use to say pointless, but with stronger players, I'velearned to say that I don't see the point. In Joe's case, however, I'llat least try and often see the point in all of his moves. The reason beingis that what he says makes more sense to me then average. Therefore, itbecomes second nature quicker then your average player. }
8... O-O
{ Black castles,but I would've played 8...Nb6 and then castled because he's up againsta stronger player. Since this is not a Ruy Lopez, theory does not sayanything about castling, sooner (to my knowing.) I say this because tipsyjourneymansaid that against stronger players, you often finish developing, and then,as the last part of it, you castle, as Joe did. }
9. Be2 { As noted above,Joe completes his development. } 9... a6
{ Preventing 9...Bb5 or 9...Nb5 But,I don't see the point since this is not the Siclian Defense. However,I guess that this is a burden with any opening which is something new thatI learned. }
10. O-O
{ So, Joe castles, and despite material being even,I already favor white's position here since the center appears completelycontrolled. Whereas, when black completes his development, I think thathe'll have a ways to go. }
10... b5
{ Fianchettoing his Bc8, whilst threatening11...b4 which would force white to undevelop his Nc3. }
11. a3 { So, Joeputs a stop to that. } 11... Bb7
{ Completing his development. After which Joewill exchange material. } 12.
dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. Rfd1 { Centralizinghis Rook. } 14... Qb6
{ Threatening a nasty discovered, that might lead to mate,in the long run. }
15. Qe3 { Like before, Joe stops that. } 15... Rac8
{ Adding anotherdefender to the c file. But, I don't see the point, however, because whitedoes not have an immediate threat, to my knowing. I would've centralizedmy Rook with the same move, so, 15...Rad8, in this position. }
16. Bf1 { Ido not know why Joe undeveloped his Bishop. } 16... h6
{ Like white's last move,I don't know why black played. But, unlike with Joe, I also don't seethe point because he is advancing the pawn near the K, when there doesnot appear to be a danger. }
17. Ne2
{ But this, however, makes sense asthis gives Joe a better square for his Knight. }
17... Rfd8
{ So, he responds bybringing his other Rook to the center, as well. } 18. Rab1
{ Adding an extradefender to b2. In this position, however, I would've played 18.b4 Notonly does this also defend the pawn, but now black has pressure againsthis Nc5, and thus, would lose time. Since, however, Joe played this, thenit has to be best. I'm just not sure what makes it better. That's becauseI'm thinking of a line where Queens would be exchanged, which would appearto leave white better. What comes to mind is 21.b4, Na4 20.Qxb6, Nxb6 }
18... Nb8
{ So, black undevelops his N. However, I think that is an inaccuracy. The reason being was due to a recent blitz Q sac I studied TA, and hisopponent, in this case, went wrong by leaving his N on the back rank. In doing so, Joe had more mobility with his Knight, and was, therefore,able to force a win. }
19. Ned4
{ In fact, this is a reason why I view 18...Nb8as an inaccuracy. With this move, Knight pair is starting to become verydangerous, in my opinion. }
19... Nbd7
{ I'm not exactly sure why black played,but my guess is to add a defender to his other Knight. The reason it'sjust a guess is that his Nc5 appears well protected. }
20. c3
{ Adding anextra defender to his Nd4 Normally, it would be the same idea as beforewhere I wouldn't understand the logic since the Knight is not in danger. But, in this position, I find it useful. While appearing weak, Joe getsanother pawn. And, despite them isolated, with the N, in between, eventhough they're not passers, those pawns are extremely dangerous. }
20... Qc7 { Idon't know why black played this. } 21. Bd3
{ But, this move, however, makessense, as now, Joe's bishop is in a better spot. However, black will exchange(presumably because he's worried about white's Bd3.) }
21... Nxd3 22. Rxd3 Nc5
{ In the after math, black puts pressure on Joe's Rd3 to gain time. } 23. Rdd1
Ne4 { I do not know why black played this. } 24. Nb3
{ But, I believethat Joe moved here to maintain control of the center. Normally, I wouldn'tknow why, but I recently learned that center control is important, evenwhen we're not in the opening. }
24... Ba8
{ To prevent white from hitting black'sLSB, which I believe was Joe's plan. }
25. Rd4
{ I think the idea behindthis move was to double up on one column since this makes it possible forJoe to place his other Rook on the d file. }
25... a5 { Threatening ...a4 whichwould cost white valuable. } 26. Nfd2
{ So, Joe answers by threatening toexchange on e4. Doing this will give black doubled pawns. It would causedamage, in this position. Although, no one has an advantage, at this point,I favor white's position here. }
26... a4 { So, black attacks white's N. } 27. Nc1
{ But, Joe has a plan by bringing his hanging Knight here. Although itdoes appear undeveloped and cramped, there's more to it then meets theeye. What redfoxrising alluded to in a Q sac (that I annotated, wherea player near his strength times out), Knights can move in different places. Although they don't appear so, they're about, as much as, or more then,a bishop. And, that's what often makes them dangerous. }
27... Rd7
{ I don't knowwhy meilajb played this since he is not going to double up on one column. But, Joe, however, will use that time to get Nc1 to a better outpost,starting with, the next move. }
28. Ne2 Nc5
{ Since, as we're seeing frequently,I don't see the point of this move. Since this keeps happening, there'sa lot that I'm missing which is another way of knowing that Joe is facingstrong opposition. }
29. Ng3
{ Meanwhile, Joe finds a stronger outpost forhis Knight, as noted earlier. }
29... g6
{ But, I do see the point here. Althoughit's not a pawn chain, by definition, g6 and h6 are connected pawns whichare also known to be dangerous. }
30. Rf1 { Adding another defender to f4. } 30... Re7
{ So, Joe's opponent puts more pressure by adding an extra attacker. } 31. Ne2
{ At first, I didn't know why or see the point to Joe playing this. But, with another look, it makes sense because if black does an eventual...h6-h4 pawn push, there won't be any pressure on white's Knight. Consequently,TA is preventing a possible tempo loss. }
31... Kg7
{ Normally, the move makessense, but in this position, I don't see the point. The idea being isthat the monarch becomes a weapon in the endgame, which is when you wantto bring it out. But, before that, you don't want it out, as otherwise,it would become exposed. In fact, GM Susan Polgar noted that in our e-mailcourse. But, we have not reached the endgame, yet. }
32. Rf3
{ I presumethat Joe is punishing black for his last move. The idea being that white'sQueen combined with Rf1 will put pressure on g6 and h6. Enough of thiswould prove overwhelming for the other side. }
32... Bc6 { Bringing his B to abetter spot, in my opinion. } 33. Rh3
{ As noted earlier, I think the ideais putting pressure on the K side. } 33...
Rh8 { But, black defends against that. } 34. Nf3
{ Bringing his Nd2 to a better place. I also think that Joe intendsto, at some point, put pressure back on black's K side. Since a Knight,added to the mix can be quite nasty. }
34... Ree8
{ Although the columns are noton the same file, by definition, the Rooks are connected on the same rank,so they're doubled up. And, that can be just as dangerous, and possibly,more so then two rooks on one file. }
35. Rd1
{ At first, I didn't know whyJoe played this, but it makes sense. That's because black was intendingto play 35...Nb3 which would cost him tempo to defend his Rook. By movinghere, if black brings his to Knight to b3, it's no longer a concern. }
35... Bd7
{ Normally, I wouldn't see the point, except that black is adding a defendere6. Might seem irrelevant, though, but this makes his pawn chain moredangerous. I had a similar position against Jack Stockel, in a game Ishould've won. I was up a Queen for Rook, and then some. But, a simplemistake lost the game, by failing to exchange Rook for Bishop. In theend, although I had 3 pawns, he had a bishop, connected with his othertwo pawns, which proved to be lethal. Although the same cannot be saidhere, the idea, however, applies. }
36. Ned4 { Still getting a better positionfor his Knights. } 36... Ne4
{ I don't see the point because with this move... } 37. Nd2
{ White want's to exchange Knights. The reason I didn't see thepoint above was the failure to understand how that Knight on e4 is dangerous. In fact, it's something that still doesn't make sense, but what I do isthat if Joe wants to eliminate it, then there's way more to it then meetsthe eye as black's Ne4 is threatening to do something. I just don't knowwhat it is. }
37... Nc5
{ But, black doesn't allow that. So, now, it's obviousthat there's something crucial with that Knight. I just have no idea whatit is. }
38. Re1
{ In general, a Rook behind the Queen on the same file isalso very dangerous. I've seen examples in GM games, as well as, someof their annotations. In fact, in one particular annotated game I studied,there were variations. And, one of them included both on the same file,which would've been overwhelming for the other side. }
38... Rc8 { So, blackdoes the same thing. } 39. Kh1
{ Jack has told me that bringing your monarchin the corner, at some point, is part of King safety. I have gotten itwrong, of when to do that because in one game I was lost, either way. In another, I seem to recall Kh1 putting me a disadvantage. So, it's aboutknowing but with what's unfolding, I'm starting to see where that applies. }
39... h5
{ And, now has a solid pawn chain, as well. Although we're only at move40, I think that with best play, the game will end in a draw, which willbecome a reality much later on. }
40. N2f3 { Joe's Knight is better placedhere. } 40... Rce8
{ Putting pressure on the e file, in the long run. } 41. Ng5
{ And, I like this placement even better because, if that Knight could reachthe seventh it would have the potential to become very dangerous. And,that's a well known fact since I've lost two or three games by allowingthat. }
41... Qb6
{ I don't know why black played. But, I believe that the aimis to tie down white's Nd4. }
42. Qf2 { But, as usual, Joe has an answerto that. } 42... Rb8
{ Like before, a Rook behind the Queen is known to be dangerous. } 43. Rf1
{ So, Joe has the same idea in mind. } 43... Rbc8
{ Like what happened earlier,I don't see the point here. But, I realize that it's something dangerousbecause of Joe's next move. }
44. Rd1 Qc7
{ I think that, as noted earlier,black once again, has the same idea as before. It makes sense now, however,because while not right away, in the long run, he is threatening c3. }
45. Qc2 { So, Joe protects it. } 45... Qb6
{ I don't see the point since Joe will movehis other Rook. } 46. Rg3 Rh6
{ While not immediately, in the long, run blackis putting pressure on Joe's Ng5. The idea is ...h4, and when white'sretreats his Rg3, black would answer with ...Rh5 Although the Knight isdefended, I sense that black has a plan more dangerous then this. }
47. Qc1
{ Since Joe moved here. But, I think it's because white might havea more dangerous plan here. I think he intends to exchange pawns withf4-f5, followed by ...PXP, and NXP, the Rook is en-prise and protectingwould mean the loss of tempo. }
47... Rhh8 { So, black prevents that, at once. } 48. Qb1
{ So, Joe comes up with a different plan. Not sure, unless blackcalculated in advance (which I believe.) But, it appears that Joe is intendingto play Nxe6 with the idea of ...fxe6, allowing Qxg6 However, that istoo easy, as experienced don't do this. On the other hand, I am analyzingthat line as that's a start to doing something without oversights. Lately,when calculating variations, I miss something and am, thus, incorrect,especially in complex positions like this. So, to cut down on it, I startwith the easy way, and then work my out so when calculating sample lines,I can do it with less inaccuracies. }
48... Rh6 { But, black also prevents thatpossibility. } 49. Qc2
{ Unlike before I don't know why Joe played this. } 49... Kg8
{ I think the idea was to bring the monarch back where it was. Thatmakes sense, as the King is safer here. }
50. Qe2
{ With this move, blackwill face some tension. It involves the same thing that I mentioned about5-10 moves ago. And, it is back. The idea is putting pressure from g1-b6with his Queen. }
50... Qa6 { In response, black plays this. } 51. Qe3
{ But, henow faces more pressure. } 51... Rh8
{ I do not know why black played this. Inthis position, I don't see anything wrong with 51...Ra8 }
52. Ndf3
{ TwoKnights, (where if it black against white, they'd be exchange) Since thatdoesn't happen with the same players, when we see these two knights acrossfrom each other, like this, it's a solid Knight Pair which is also knownto be dangerous. In fact, I solved a chess puzzle with two Knights likethis, that might have been used to deliver mate. }
52... Kf8
{ Since it appearsto be a potential threat black prevents that possibility by playing this. }
53. Re1 { Going back to the Rook behind Queen method. } 53... Qa7
{ I don't knowwhy black played this. } 54. Nd4
{ I also don't know why Joe moved here. But, my guess would be saccing his N for pawn to get something dangerous,known as a positional sac. }
54... Qb7
{ How I came up with this inference is dueto black playing this, as now, with added protection, that sac will notwork. }
55. Qe2
{ If my instincts were correct, I presume that Joe makesanother attempt at that. Or, he might have something more dangerous. }
55... Re8 { Since black answers with this move. } 56. Qc2
{ I am not sure why Joeplayed this. } 56... Bc8
{ Likewise, I'm not sure why black moved here. And, forme, not knowing the logic behind certain moves is quite good as it showsjust how much theory the game contains. }
57. Kg1
{ This is the late middlegame, and as we approach the end game, the King will become a powerfulweapon. With that being said, Joe is already mobilizing his monarch andpreparing to do battle with it. }
57... Kg7
{ Black has the same idea in mind. Normally, I'd say that we have reached the distant opposition, exceptthat it's too soon since not only isn't it the endgame, yet, but thereare just too many pawns to call it that. And, I learned that in charleshiggie'slast annotation when ION noted that. However, this move is still verygood because black is threatening to do damage of his own, as we'll seelater on. }
58. Rd1
{ I'm not sure why Joe played this. At first, I thoughtthat it was to add a defender Nd4, as what, originally, went through mymind was 58....Nb3, which would appear to cost white tempo since it wouldappear that TA has to get his N out of harm's way. But, white can justexchange. So, for example, 58...Nb3, 59.Nxb3, axb3 60.Qxb3 }
58... Rhg8
{ But,I do not know what this move accomplishes, and thus, don't see the point. If black was going to play 59...Kh8, it would make sense. However, thatdoes not happen. }
59. Rf3
{ I do, however, see the logic here. Althoughnot immediate, at some point, black might have decided to threaten f4 (whichis an important pawn.) But this move, however, adds an extra defenderso that, if black decides to attack it, that won't be of a concern. }
59... Bd7
{ Mobilizing his Rd8. It was a little mobile, but this really adds to it,and as we know mobility is essential. }
60. Rh3
{ As usual, I did Homeworkby trying to figure out why Joe played this. But, this time, I figuredit out without having to guess. In this position, white intends to sachis Rook a pawn. The idea being is that if black takes, TA will mate. And, if he is to avoid that, black would lose a pawn. So, the threatis 61.Rxh5, and if 61...gxh5??, 62.Qh7+, Kf8 (forced) 63.Qxf7# }
60... Rh8
{ So,black stops that cold since, now, he has an extra defender to prevent 61.Rxh5. }
61. Rg3
{ However, black might have had a plan to be concerned about startingwith 61...f6 with the idea being 62.exf6, Kxf6 followed by 63...Rf8, makingit difficult to defend the f pawn. So, Joe doesn't take chances. }
61... Rh6
{ I don't see the point behind this is move because, and in fact, view itas a blunder. This appeares to restrict black's mobile Rook, and the ideabeing is that, in general, you don't want to restrict the mobility of yourpieces, as that's a recipe for a disaster. }
62. Qf2
{ Therefore, it wouldappear that Joe is punishing black for his last move. But, what I thoughtdoesn't happen. The plan seemed to be 63.Rh3, followed by 64.Qh4, whichwould be my reason behind this move. However, TA does not play that. }
62... Qb6 { Adding an extra defender to his Nc5, should Joe move his Nd4. } 63.
Kh1 { Knowing this, Joe brings his monarch to the corner, instead. } 63... Rhh8
{ And, black remobilizes his Rook. } 64. Ndf3
{ Like before, Joe aligns hisKnights together. Even in endgames, this applies, so he is maintainingcenter control. }
64... Rb8 { Bringing his Rook behind the Queen, again. } 65. f5
{ But, Joe threatens a nasty check. It turns out, that 66.f6+ would bevery dangerous, as white's pawn chain would be overwhelming for black. }
65... exf5
{ So, black prevents problems by taking this way. It's important tonote that taking the other way would lose immediately as white would mate. 65...gxf5?? 66.Nxe6+, Kh6 (forced) 67.Qe3+, Kh7 (forced) 68.Rg7# }
66. Rxd5 { Not surprisingly, Joe takes back. } 66... f4
{ So, black defends the Rook. } 67. Nh4
{ Instead of defending, Joe brings one of his Knight to the rim. } 67... Ne6
{ Since black didn't capture, it's safe to conclude that, 'To take isa mistake.' With even more to learn, I studied what would happen if blackplayed 67...fxg3, as Homework because this is very good practice, due toa tactical exercise. It turns out that black would lose his Queen, asthe only way to avoid mate would mean giving it up, after 68.Qxf7+, Kh669.Rd6 Therefore, he comes up with a new plan by attacking white's Queen. }
68. Qf1
{ Which Joe protects. Right after this, however, black will exchangeKnights. It does make sense, though, since white's Ng5 appears dangerous. Even if not, why chance it? The idea behind my last sentence goes witha well known chess fact which is, 'Never trust your opponent.' After theexchange, however, black's Bd7 will become a target. }
68... Nxg5 69. Rxg5 Bg4
{ So, he defends. I don't know why, but right after this, however, Joewill sac his Knight for a pawn. }
70. Nxg6 fxg6 71. Rd6
{ My guess is togain tempo since black must defend. But, my other instinct is that Joemight have more dangerous up his sleeve. }
71... Qe3 72. Qb1
{ That is due to thismove since he is threatening an immediate 73.Qxg6# } 72...
Kf8 { So, black preventsthat. } 73. Rf6+
{ But, that will not stop Joe from placing black in check. } 73... Ke7
{ The only other option was 73...Kg7, and I was trying to calculatewhat would happen, after that starting with a discovered check by the Rookwhich would result in mate. But, then (without analyzing the board), Iquickly figured out that white would do that, immediately with 74.Qxg6# }
74. Rgxg6 { But, this will not stop Joe from trying since he takes. } 74...
Qxe5
{ But, black stops this by taking Joe's dangerous passed pawn. However,white will continue to gain tempo by, repeatedly, placing black in check. }
75. Rg7+ Ke8 76. Qg6+ Kd8 77. Rg8+ Kc7
{ The only difference is that, inthis position, I might have played 77...Rxg8 to prevent white's next movesince I don't see an immediate back rank mate, afterwards. }
78. Rf7+ Bd7
{ This, however, is where the fun begins, as Joe is going to sac his Rookfor Bishop. }
79. Rxd7+ Kxd7 80. Rg7+
{ And, now, Joe decides to sac hisother Rook for a Queen. It appears to be forced win for black, but aswe'll see later on, there's much to this story then meets the eye. }
80... Qxg7 81. Qxg7+ Kc6 82. Qf6+
{ For now, this is the last check that Joe has againstmeilajb. } 82... Kb7 83.
h4
{ Preventing black from getting an open file. As weknow, open files are very dangerous, especially since black has anotherRook, on the same rank. }
83... Rbc8
{ I don't know what this move accomplishes. Instead, I might have played 83...Rbd8 with the idea of 84...Rd1+, 85.Kh2,Rd2, followed by 86...f3. }
84. Kg1
{ But, Joe prepares for the f4-f2 marchwith this move, as now, his monarch is more active. }
84... Ka7
{ I'm not surewhy black moved here, but I deem to be a mistake because Joe is going towin a pawn. Instead, I would've brought one of my Rooks to f8, to protectf4, whilst, gaining tempo. }
85. Qxf4 Ka6
{ One thing is for sure, however. As noted earlier, in the endgame, the monarch is a dangerous weapon. }
86. g4
{ At first, I thought that Joe was trying to promote with his passedpawn on h4. But, black's Rh8 stops that. Instead, white is saccing apawn to gain tempo. That's because, when meilajb takes, TA will placehim in check. }
86... hxg4 87. Qf6+ Ka5
{ Still keeping his monarch mobile. And,the King around a pawn chain is also dangerous. Although it won't workhere, in general, a position like this would result in promoting a pawn. The only thing that stops it, in this position, is white's a3. But, usually,you don't have a pawn to block it. For example, Jack Stockel, in a previousgame, was going to promote in a similar situation which is why I resignedthere. }
88. Qg7
{ Instead of taking on h4 (which is what I would've done),he threatens g4. }
88... Kb6
{ Likewise, instead of taking, black moves his King. But, it makes sense here because this is triangulation since he played85...Ka6, followed by, 87...Ka5, and then, 88...Kb6, so it's moved in atriangle. And, this trigonometric method is very useful in endgames, butespecially, in this position. }
89. h5
{ So, Joe continues to advance hispasser since, 'passed pawn must be pushed.' }
89... Rcd8
{ I'm not sure why blackmoved here. But, in my mind one move is as good or as bad as the other. With that being said, I just would not know what to do here. }
90. h6
{ Aswhite, however, this is what I also would've played as Joe keeps pushinghis passer. }
90... Kc5 { Continuing his triangulation. } 91. Qc7+
{ But, Joe placeshim in check. And, when he gets out... } 91... Kd5 92. Kg2
{ Joe will use hismonarch as a weapon, this time. } 92... Ke4
{ So does black. } 93. Qc6+
{ But, Joechecks, again. And, when black gets out white will win a pawn, again. }
93... Kf5 94. Qxb5+ Kg6 95. Kg3
{ This time, it's safe to say that we now havethe distant opposition. } 95...
Rd2
{ Threatening b2, but Joe answers by exchangingpawns, afterwards, he'll go back to, continuously, placing black in check. }
96. Qxa4 Rxb2 97. Qc6+ Kh7 98. Qe4+
{ Meanwhile, black will get back a pawn,again. } 98... Kxh6 99. Qe3+ Kg6 100.
Qd3+
{ Normally, I'd annotate the rest, butI go by what TA outlines. Therefore, I don't think it's necessary, untilthe very end, as this where, I believe, the theory ends. In it, he notesthat, for the rest of this game, Joe sees that it is drawn. In fact, hesees this, even earlier. But, I'm not sure, exactly when. Starting now,he offers black a draw which gets turned out. Throughout the rest of thegame, he offers black a draw, on two occassions, but meilajb declines. tactical_abyss even sends his opponent some messages on why he thinksit's drawn, without a response. }
100... Kg7 101. Qd7+ Kf8 102. Qf5+ Kg7 103. Qe5+ Kg8 104. Qe6+ Kg7 105. Qe7+
Kg8 106. Qd8+ Kg7 107. Qd4+ Kh7 108. a4 Rg8 109. a5 Rg6 110. Qa7+ Kh6 111. Qe3+
Kh7 112. Qe7+ Kg8 113. Qd7 Kh8 114. Qf7 Ra6 115. Qc4 Ra7 116. Qd5 Rbb7 117. c4
Rg7 118. c5 Raf7 119. a6 Rf3+ 120. Kg2 Rff7 121. Qa8+ Kh7 122. c6 Ra7 123. Qe8
g3 124. Qh5+ Kg8 125. Qf5 Rae7 126. Qd5+ Kh7 127. Qh5+ Kg8 128. Qf3 Kh7 129.
Qd3+ Kh6 130. Qd2+ Kh5 131. Qd5+ Kg4 132. Qf3+ Kh4 133. Qf4+ Kh5 134. Qd4 Re2+
135. Kf3 Ree7 136. Qg1 Ref7+ 137. Ke2 Kg4 138. Kd3 Kf5 139. Qc5+ Ke6 140. Qe3+
Kd5 141. Qd4+ Kxc6 142. Kc4 g2 143. Qc5+ Kd7 144. a7 g1=Q 145. Qxg1 Rxg1 146.
a8=Q Rf4+ 147. Kd3 Rd1+ 148. Kc3 Ke7 149. Qa7+ Kf6 150. Qa6+ Kf5 151. Qb5+ Kg6
152. Qb8 Rdf1 153. Qb6+ Rf6 154. Qd4 R1f3+ 155. Kd2 Rf2+ 156. Ke1 R2f4 157. Qd5
R6f5 158. Qa8 Rf2 159. Qe8+ Kg5 160. Qe3+ R2f4 161. Qe2 Kf6 162. Qd3 Ke5 163.
Qb5+ Kd4 164. Qb6+ Kc4 165. Kd2 Rd4+
{ At last, a draw is agreedon by both sides, to make a long story short. The moral of this storyand theory is that a Queen against both Rooks is a book draw. Overall,I'd like to thank Joe for showing this game. Without the lecture, I wouldnot have known about it, so this annotation would not have been possible. }
1/2-1/2
|
[Event "shambobala's Beat the c3 Sicilian"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2016.01.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "shambobala"]
[Black "russ20124"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1496"]
[TimeControl "3d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1645"]
{ I wanted to thank Shambobala for starting this MT. It was very timelyfor me. I joined this MT because I've been beaten by the Sicilian defensemultiple times recently and have been studying responses. I wanted to applymy understand on how to defeat the Sicilian defense. I've read the 'c3Sicilian' is a solid white response. This is one of the first games ofthe MT for me. I'm playing black. I believe this to be the best gameI've ever played. The club I joined just had a discussion thread on Queensacrifices for advantage, so that was on my mind throughout this game.I did have the opportunity to use the sac and won the game. }
1. e4 { Blackopens with KP. } 1... c5
{ This is the opening of the Sicilian defense. I'veused this a several times and had good success. Conversely have been defeatedalmost every time I've faced it. Here black intends on denying white controlof the center or exchanging a flank pawn for a center pawn. From Wikipedia,'17% of all games between grandmasters, and 25% of the games in the ChessInformant database, begin with the Sicilian.'.. so it should probably besomething every serious chess player should study. }
2. c3
{ From my studies,I understand this to be the one of the most effective responses to theSicilian. I know I have never intentionally played that move as white.Looks a little strange but has some interesting play. Here are a few referencesthat I thought were helpful describing how well things can work for white.There are probably many more out there: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1vaTT8jcDf4https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HjIt_88BLHE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SUWBZLMIPu4 }
2... g6
{ White wants early control of the center and has the initiative, soblack concedes that for now. I thought giving up the the center early mightbe unexpected for my opponent. (Note: I've tried this strategy on 2000+players and it NEVER works). The idea will be to attack the center fromthe flank later with force later. The DSB and the queen side knight willapply pressure on the d4 square, since the e file pawn has passed and can'tdefend. Black's DSB turns out to be pivotal to this game once it is infianchetto position. }
3. d4
{ White confronts the black pawn on c5 whichis undefended. The first instinct might be to defend. However, there areseveral reasons I decided to leave it undefended. (1) I need to stick tomy strategy, (2) I already pushed g6 and weakened the future king-sidecastle, so I need to fianchetto, and (3) if white takes on c5, then myoriginal goal of weakening white's center is accomplished, albeit at amaterial expense. A white pawn on c5 would be difficult to defend. I couldn'tthink of a good reason for defending the c5 pawn other than 1 point ofmaterial. }
3... Bg7
{ Following the plan to flank attack. Starting to apply pressureto d4. Analysis showed this as a black Inaccuracy and that I should havetaken at d4. But the computer doesn't know my strategy. }
4. Bc4
{ White'sLSB puts pressure on the weak f7 pawn and prepares for a future attackon the castle. }
4... cxd4
{ I want to bring the queen side knight out, but whitehas the d4 pawn that could immediately threaten and push me around, soI take d4. }
5. cxd4
{ ...and white takes it back. I live the fact thatthe DSB is staring down at the white queen side rook; although this reallydoesn't materialize into anything. More importantly I think 4...cxd4 leavesthe white d4 pawn needing defense by a minor or major piece. Probably inconvenientfor white. }
5... Nc6 { Black knight puts more pressure on d4. } 6. Ne2
{ Whiteneeds to add a defender to d4. I think 6. Nf3 would have been better, butI'm not sure. This moves also solidifies white's intent to castle kindside. }
6... d6
{ I need to get the king side knight in play. However, if I needto ensure white cannot move to e5 and push my knight around, so I madethis pawn move. This also opens up my bishop lines a bit. However, doesallow white to pin my knight... we'll see. }
7. O-O { white decides to castleinstead of pin. } 7... Nf6
{ so I put the knight in play. This has the temporaryaffect of reducing the tension on d4, but changes white's focus to thehanging pawn on e4. }
8. Nbc3
{ and white defends e4. At this point, I seemy queen and DSG lining up at e4.. I just need to get all those other piecesout to of the way :) }
8... O-O { but first defend and work towards connectingthe rooks. } 9. f4
{ During the game, this move struck me as a bit unusual.My first thought was white had overextended his pawns. I can't ignore thewall of white I'm facing, but they really aren't well supported. Post gameanalysis confirmed 9. f4 to be a mistake and the game turning point. Thecomputer thinks the best move would be to defend d4 with the DSB. }
9... Nxe4
{ I took the pawn thinking noticing a potential fork at d5 if white retakes. }
10. Nxe4
{ Leaves black down -2, but this moves leaves an isolated queenpawn on the d4 square I've been targeting the whole game. In addition,there's a fork at d5. Not sure what else white should do here. }
10... d5 { haven'tdone that many pawn forks, always fun. } 11. Bb3
{ Analysis shows white shouldhave taken the pawn.. not sure I would have done that either. Apparentlywhite really wants the a2-g8 diagonal. I might have backed it up to d3. }
11... dxe4 { take. } 12. Be3
{ this move is necessary, but really limits white'sDSB for now. I think white now knows my plan, but I think its too late.I see the queen staring at d4 now and my earlier diagonal scheme seemslike it might materialize. }
12... Bg4
{ pinned the defender and connected allthe big guys! At this point, I was fairly certain I had this game. I reallylike the way everything connected up and was achieving my original goalof d4. }
13. Qd2 { white attempts to remove the pin.. but I'm ahead in material,so... }
13... Bxe2
{ take.. now white has to move the queen from defending d4 tohandle the bishop. }
14. Qxe2 { white complies leaving d4.. there's bloodin the water. } 14... Nxd4
{ I see the end now... I just need white to take theknight and we're done. }
15. Bxd4
{ Yes!! Not sure if white could have doneanything else here, but I think that's the right move for white here. }
15... Qxd4+
{ Check. White has successfully implemented a flank attack and nowcontrols d4 with tempo. Look at how important the DSB has become. Whitehas no counter attack potential on the black king and black has reallytaken center control. Note: If black takes d4 with the bishop instead ofthe queen, it sets up a potential pin opportunity for the white rook. Thequeen is much more adept here. }
16. Kh1 { forced move. } 16... e6
{ I thought abouttaking on b2 and offering a queen trade. However, this left e7 vulnerableand the white LSB still staring at my king. 16...e6 seemed like a goodway to use the extra tempi. }
17. Rad1
{ still leaves the b2 pawn hangingand I was going to offer the exchange anyway. I don't like the fact thatwhite owns the d file, but that doesn't really matter that much now. Inotice the king is buried behind his pawns and see a potential tacticalqueen sacrifice if white doesn't choose the exchange. }
17... Qxb2 { offer theexchange. } 18. Qxe4
{ but white wanted the pawn instead. Not sure if whitesees the queen sac tactic. }
18... b5 { b5 keeps the LSB bishop from interferingwith the queen sac. } 19.
Rd7
{ white doesn't see it... white is interestedin lining up his queen and rook along the 7th row, but too late for that. }
19... Rac8
{ Rook to position, maybe white sees it now. If he moves his queenback, have to think of something else. }
20. Rxa7
{ no, he is intent on the7th row attack. Just not enough time left for that. }
20... Qf2
{ There's the queensacrifice. I owe this one to my club (WoW)... we were just talking aboutqueen sacrifices for advantage in a discussion list and started me thinking. In the best case scenario for white, he loses the a7 rook. Worst casethe game is over. White chooses to resign. I would have liked to playthis out, but white would have been seriously behind in material. Thanksfor the game shambobala and setting up this MT. I am looking forward toplaying this tournament as white! }
0-1
|
[Event "Centered Scandivian, a couter trick."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.06.15"]
[Round "-"]
[White "hamidi101"]
[Black "damalfi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "3/10"]
1. e4 { Another 'wild game', with an interesting counter trick. } 1... d5 2.
exd5 Qxd5 3. d4 e5 4. Nc3
{ Stronger for white is Nf3. The other answer is Bb4,but I played... } 4...
Qxd4 { Which allows a 'trick' by white. } 5. Qxd4 exd4 6. Nb5
{ So white recovers the pawn, while I have to defend c7. But I wentfor a wild game, as always. }
6... Bb4+
{ If c3, dxc3, and Nxc7+, Kd8, NxR isanswered by c3xb2+, winning. So, } 7. Kd1
{ No rook available for the ecolumn, so I have to defend. } 7... Na6 8. Nxd4
{ ...planning to take advantageof the pinned knight. But I have to free the way for the rook, first. SoI proposed another exchange. }
8... Bg4+ 9. f3 { As predicted. } 9... O-O-O { If c3,Bf5. } 10. fxg4
{ But he went for the exchange. } 10... Rxd4+ 11. Bd3
{ So I cantake the g4 pawn, and the game goes on. But I tried something stronger,again. }
11... Nc5 { I threat the exchange, and avoid the annoying BxN (future)threat. }
12. Ke2
{ Wise is to defend from c3, but again, I tried to be 'creative'and 'attacking'. }
12... Nf6 { This is more to free my rook. It looks as I havea huge edge. } 13.
h3
{ Better was Nf3, attacking the rook - but releasingme from the potential threat c3. }
13... Re8+ { Yahoo! Every piece is in the game... } 14. Be3 Nd5
{ I mean 'every' :-) } 15. Bf5+ Kb8 16. c3 { Nf3 was better, again. } 16...
Rxe3+ 17. Kf2 Rd2+ 18. Kf1
{ Nf4 attacks g2, but... is this enough? Thewise choice was Ba5, but I bet again. }
18... Bxc3 19. bxc3 g6 20. Bb1
{ Now Rd1+,Kf2, Nd3+, BxN, RxR allowed c4, Rxd3, cxN, Rxd... but I had time troubles. }
20... Nxc3 { It looks SOOOO overwhelming... } 21. Nf3
{ And here I blundered badly.Was this position winning for black? Yes, probably. I show the following. }
21... Rd1+ 22. Kf2 Re2+ 23. Kg3 Rxh1
{ and white is lost. I didn't play this,actually, but this was the right way. }
1-0
|
[Event "United Chess Nations vs International Chess DOGS"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.06.06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jamydodger"]
[Black "macnecio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1709"]
[TimeControl "5 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1754"]
1. e4
{ Hello everyone, I thought i would share this game because I've neverseen this response to the opening played so I thought you wouldn't haveeither! (sorry if you have, i'm not that old a chess player that is whyI wouldn't have seen it I guess:)) e4. }
1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3
{ 3. c3 -The ponziani opening (the opening I usually play.) } 3... f5
{ 3. ...f5! - I'venever seen this before but I definatly find it an attacking approach againstthe ponziani. }
4. d4 { 4. d4 - a typical ponziani move. } 4... exd4 5. Bc4
{ 5.Bc4 - Ignoring the fact I can take blacks pawn. } 5... Nf6
{ 5. ... Nf6 - A naturaldeveloping move. } 6. e5
{ 6. e5! - putting pressure on blacks knight. } 6... d5
{ 6. ...d5?! - counter threatening whites bishop but after black eventuallymoves their knight they can't defend the d4 pawn. }
7. Bb5 Ne4
{ 7. ... Ne4- moving the knight of trouble but white may start attacking towards blacksqueen side through Nxd4 }
8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. e6
{ 9. e6! - threatening to winthe black bishop so he has to move it really but after that NxN at leastwins the Knight. }
9... Nxd4
{ 9. ... Nxd4!? - Leaving the black squared bishopthreatened by a pawn and a piece (the pawn and bishop) with check so blackwill lose a piece and control of blacks defense. }
10. Bxd7+ Ke7 11. Qxd4 { 11. Qxd4 - winning the knight and central control. }
11... c6
{ 11. ... c6? -there isn't much black can do at this stage but i'm sure black could havetried to strengthen their defences with something like 11. ... h6. }
12. f3
{ 12. f3! - forcing blacks knight of the square which protects Bg5+!so there isn't much black can do. }
12... Nd6
{ 12. ...Nd6?? - a surpirsing moveleaving a mate in one on, although there isn't much places the knight couldhave moved for example if 12. Nf6?? 13.Qc5 would be checkmate aswell. }
13. Bg5#
{ So this variation didn't go down too well in this game but i'msure it would be fine in some other cases :) }
1-0
|
[Event "English opening messed"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "11-Nov-06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "ukuyo"]
[Black "dbreli"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1382"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1500"]
1. c4 { Hi all, this game illustrates an english opening (A21) } 1... e5 2.
Nc3 Bc5
{ Bb4 has been more commun in the past recent years (2000's) Bc5 rarebut not wrong. }
3. e3 Nc6 4. d4 { My first mistake. } 4... exd4 5. exd4 Nxd4 { lossof 1 pawn }
6. Nge2 Qe7 7. Be3 Nxe2 8. Qxe2 Bxe3 9. fxe3 Nf6
{ I tried notto let the exchanges go... } 10. g3 Ne4 11. Bg2 Nxc3
{ As I thought blackare going to exchange every single piece } 12. bxc3 d6
{ white's structurelooks awful and desperate. } 13. O-O Bd7 14. Bxb7
{ Thanks to dbreli } 14... Rb8 15. Bd5 f6
{ f6! is unexpected and unexplainable A simple 0-0 would be Ok. } 16. Qh5+
{ I started to work on the K's side in order to come back on f6pawn. } 16... g6
17. Qf3 Qe5 18. Rae1
{ c3 is voluntarily let to take f6 as 0-0-0is no more possible. } 18... Kd8
{ an other mistake allowing me a check } 19. Qxf6+ Qxf6 20. Rxf6 c6 21. Bf3 Kc7
22. Rd1 Rhf8 23. Rdxd6 { Rdxd6! Rfxd6 is muchbetter } 23... Rxf6 24. Rxf6
{ b files are opened and a pawn feels lonely. } 24... Re8
{ but Black chooses to attack e3 } 25. e4 { now it is too late to play Rb1 }
25... a5 26. Rf7 { Pinning the bishop. threat on h7 } 26... Rb8 27. Bg4
{ The only goodresponse from backs is Rd8. } 27... Rb1+
{ Now, even if a5 is advanced, I willbe 1 piece up and may make a sacrifice if necessary. }
28. Kf2 Rb2+ 29. Ke3 Rb7 30. Rxd7+ Kb6 31. Rxb7+ Kxb7
{ the last exchange should have killedthe last hopes of my opponent but few more moves would be more convincing. }
32. Kd4 { No path for black on q's side } 32... Kc7 33. Kc5 g5 34. e5
{ Black Kingcan't go on d6, d7 and tries to hold c6 ... } 1-0
|
[Event "Slow Ladder"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2014.05.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "harleyz"]
[Black "jutterback"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1498"]
[TimeControl "5d+2d<10d"]
[WhiteElo "1317"]
1. e4
{ I am playing black against a 1317. He should be able to give mea good game. That rating is nothing to sneeze at. }
1... e5 { standard so far } 2. Nf3 { standard } 2... f5
{ I decided to try a sort of kings gambit, just becauseI have been playing the Philador a lot lately. I wanted to change it up. }
3. exf5 { White accepts the gambit. } 3... Nf6
{ Black is now a pawn down and continuesto develope. } 4. Nxe5
{ Black is now 2 pawns down. This is a big mistakefor black. That could have been prevented. }
4... Qe7
{ Black threatens horsewhich can't move. I think they call this a 'pin' } 5.
Qe2 { White solvesthe problem } 5... d6 { Black threatens horse } 6. Ng4
{ Horse runs away leavingtwo snarling queens face to face... but that white horse looks vulnerable. }
6... Nxg4
{ Black sees the mistake that white has made and captures the horse. White queen can't take the back horse. }
7. Qxe7+
{ White queen is so angryabout the whole thing that she just wants blood. }
7... Bxe7
{ Black recapturesusing bishop. Don't want to capture with king becuase then I forfit theopportunitiy to castle in the future. }
8. h3 { White begins to pester. } 8... Ne5 { Horse saves himself. } 9. g4
{ White is developing a nice pawn chainand makes another opening for his bishop }
9... Nbc6 { black continues to develop } 10. Nc3 { standard } 10... Bd7 11. Nd5
{ white gets aggressive. Look out for thatnasty forking maneuver. } 11... O-O-O
{ Black castles on the queen side to avoidthe fork. Also, it makes sence to castle that way because the Kings gambitdestroyed the pawn protection on the king side. }
12. Nxe7+ { White takesbishop and makes a check. } 12... Nxe7
{ Black recipocates and takes the whitehorse. Now black has two horses and white has none. Black is only onepoint ahead. }
13. Bg2 { white developes } 13... Bc6 { black takes an agressive stand. } 14.
Bxc6 { white takes bishop. } 14... N7xc6 { black recipocates. } 15. d3
{ whitemakes a hole for his other bishop } 15... Nd4
{ Now begins the whole reason thatI wanted to annotate this game. Black begins an interesting Calvery dance. Horses vs. King. }
16. Kd2
{ White King sees the forking problem and solvesit, although white can no longer castle. }
16... Nef3+ { Black gives check. } 17. Kc3
{ King begins to take a long walk in the park. } 17... Ne2+ { another check }
18. Kb3 { king continues his stroll. } 18... Nfd4+ { another check } 19. Kc4
{ kingkeeps walking } 19... d5+ { another check } 20. Kb4
{ king is having a lovely timeof it. } 20... Nxc2+ { a nasty forking check }
21. Kb3 { king dances around the dancefloor. } 21... Nxa1+
{ black takes his bounty and what is this I see: another check. } 22. Ka3
{ King side steps. } 22... Nc2+
{ Black horse just wants to get out of thecorner, but bonus: another check. }
23. Kb3 { King happily bops around. } 23... Ncd4+
{ another check. The purpose of this one was to keep the king outin the open. Can't slip back to his home. }
24. Kb4 { King is wide openfor pot shots. } 24... b6
{ First time that black did not check in a long time. Black is setting up for more pawn checking. White finally gives up atthis point. Can't take the abuse. }
0-1
|
[Event "An Expert Lesson in Sacrifices"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.03.01"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jstevens1"]
[Black "emtogsdia"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2002"]
[TimeControl "5 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1773"]
1. e4
{ Hi everyone! Here is another aspect of my game that I need toimprove upon as well as mounting successful mating attacks and spottingthose decoys! It is called Spot the Sacrifice. I have come across quitea few sacrifices including queen sacrifices when doing the daily puzzlesbut again I need to develop it in a real game. In this game I failed tospot an exchange sacrifice and paid the price! In response to 1. e4 blackplays e6 which is the French Defense. }
1... e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5
{ 3. ......exd5 - this pawn trade characterises the Exchange Variation of the FrenchDefense. It does have the potential to be drawish but it is not alwaysthe case. I thought I would get some nice open free play here. Well,I do, but only up to a point. }
4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd6
{ 5. ..... Bd6 - agood square for the bishop, both sides have developed pieces and now thingsstart to get a little interesting ..... }
6. c4 dxc4 7. d5
{ 7. d5 - an attackon the pinned knight on c6 but black can get out of it. }
7... a6 { 7. .......a6 - like this. } 8. Bxc4
{ 8. Bxc4 - I now regain my pawn and black takesme out of the database with a queen check along the e column. }
8... Qe7+ 9. Qe2 Qxe2+ 10. Kxe2
{ 10. Kxe2. I decided to recapture with Henry becauseI thought about clearing the way for my KR to come to d1 to defend theadvanced d5 pawn. }
10... Na5 11. Bd3
{ 11. Bd3 - Fou Leblanc evades capture bythe knight on a5. This is a good diagonal and I would like him to stayon it but I am worried about the d5 pawn. Later on it's gonna be the leastof my worries! }
11... Nf6 12. Nc3
{ 12. Nc3 - hmm, in retrospect maybe insteadof following the knights before bishops mantra it would have been betterto have played Be3 followed by Nd2 and then my rooks would have a clearcommunication on the back row, and Henry would have been shielded on e2. Do you the Inquest Jury agree? }
12... O-O 13. Rd1 Re8+ 14. Kf1
{ 14. Kf1. Idid consider Be3 but then I was worried about Ng5 piling up on the pinnedprelate. }
14... Bg4 15. Be2
{ 15. Be2 - to break the pin, but alas one step inthe wrong direction for yours truly. }
15... b5 16. h3 Bd7
{ 16. ....... Bd7. This bishop looks innocuous on this square. This is a perfect camouflagefor black's future intent though. }
17. Bg5 b4 18. Bxf6 gxf6
{ 18. ......gxf6 - again I cannot resist to sac B for N in order to do a pawn-bustingexercise. Alas, I must now retreat my knight to b1. If you look at myabove note at move 12 I could have avoided having to do this. }
19. Nb1 Nb7 20. Nbd2
{ 20. Nbd2?? - this is the loser. I did not see the sacrificecoming until it hit me ..... here it comes ...... }
20... Rxe2
{ 20. ....... Rxe2!!- ...... here it is! A real crusher. Now I must take the rook but thatinnocuous looking lsb on d7 is gonna deliver a crushing check on b5. }
21. Kxe2 Bb5+ 22. Ke1 Re8+
{ 22. ..... Re8+ - another crusher - the only legalmove is Ne4 which also gives Henry a flight square. Black has two piecesfor the rook but that is just for starties! The main course is still tocome. }
23. Ne4 Rxe4+ 24. Kd2 Re2+
{ 24. ..... Re2+ - nasty, nasty, thisis a real bone in the throat. Not only can that rook decimate my kingsidepawns but a mating net is being woven around Henry. }
25. Kc1 Bf4+ { 25...... Bf4+ - yup, no peace for Henry. } 26. Nd2 Rxf2
{ 26. ..... Rxf2 - thepiggish rook gorges my kingside pawns with impunity. }
27. Kc2
{ 27. Kc2- making room for my rooks to move but Nc5 is a death knell because I mustnow play b3 to give Henry a flight square on b2. My rook on a1 will fallto a skewer (Be5) next move and so I decided to wave the white flag. Wellplayed Chris! }
27... Nc5 0-1
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "20-Jan-08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "zep5686"]
[Black "andyf"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1244"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1222"]
1. e4 c5 2. d3 { I don't like these closed versions. } 2... Nc6 3. c3 e6 4. Nf3
d5 { black easy equalize and get a good grip in the center. } 5. e5 f6
{ pressinge5. } 6. Bf4 d4
{ of course. preventing white from playing d4 and by thatisolating e5. } 7. Be2
h6 8. c4 fxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Nf6
{ white hasa problem with his Knight and his q-side Rook. } 11. h3 Bd6 12. Bxd6
Qxd6 { black has a strong center. white's d3 pawn is weak and left behind. }
13. O-O e5
{ maybe 13... 0-0 was better. the f file seems to be important forblack. } 14.
Bh5+ Kd8 15. Bg6
{ now black has a problem with the king incenter and the rook cant go to e8. }
15... Bd7 16. a4 Be8 { there is no choicebut to exchange bishops. } 17. Bxe8
Rxe8 { by exchanging the bishops blackgot the e file. } 18. f3
{ 18. nd2 is a must. by playing f3 the black knughtwill go to g3 or f4. } 18...
Nh5 19. Kf2 Qg6 20. g4 Nf4 { did I say that d3 isweak already? } 21. Ra3 Rf8
22. Kg3 { a must. the king is poorly placed onf2. } 22... Nh5+ 23. Kh2 Nf4 24.
h4 { ?? why not going back with the king to g3? } 24... h5 25. Kg3 hxg4
{ white's king side is falling apart. } 26. fxg4 Nh5+ 27. Kh3 Rxf1 28. Qxf1
Nf4+ 29. Kg3 Kc7 { right! getting the rook to the actionzone. } 30. Rb3 Rf8 31.
Nd2 Nh5+ { a queen up. nothing to see here no more. } 32. Kh3 Rxf1 33. Nxf1
Nf4+ 34. Kg3 Ne2+ 35. Kf3 Nc1 36. Ra3 Qf6+ 37. Kg2 Qxh4 38. Nh2 Qe1 39. Ra1
Qd2+ 40. Kg1 Qxb2 41. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 42. Nf1 Qc3 { theend... } 0-1
|
[Event "chump1978's mini-tournament XII"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2014.08.30"]
[Round "-"]
[White "russ20124"]
[Black "cvernon1988"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1273"]
[TimeControl "3d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1385"]
1. e4
{ I am annotated this game to ask others about the position and getfeedback. The computer calls a set of moves near end of game a blunder.However, I purposely sacrificed a knight to gain a rook. Please commenton this and let me know your thoughts. Black resigned, so I really don'tknow how it would have turned out, but it didn't look good for black. }
1... e6 { I like playing against this defense. } 2. d4
{ Looking for a strong centergame. } 2... d5
{ Anticipated this move and appreciate the tension. } 3. Nc3
{ Discouragingthe pawn capture. } 3... Nf6 { Touché } 4. Bg5
{ Pinned the knight, pretty standardso far } 4... h6
{ I prefer playing Be2 here as black. Otherwise, my king pawnsget skewed and reduces the effectivity of a king side castle }
5. Bxf6
{ Firstblood! I don't mind the exchange and his only option is to double the pawnskingside. Notice black still has no minor pieces developed. }
5... gxf6 6. exd5
{ Was hoping to draw his queen out, but either wanted to open up the center. }
6... exd5 { Capture back } 7. Qf3
{ I did think it was premature to bring the queenout, but I was eyeing the b7 pawn. }
7... c5
{ Mistake on blacks part. I thinkmaybe he thought I would take and give him the center, but that would neverhappen. }
8. Nxd5
{ Things are setting nicely. I just need to coax his bishopout of position. }
8... f5
{ He moves to take his pawn out of harms way, but thecell he exited is still my knights target. }
9. Bb5+ { Hoping he brings hisbishop out. } 9... Bd7 { Abracadabra! } 10. Nf6+
{ Ok, so I have his rook now andthinking this was pretty good. However, commuter analysis calls this movea blunder. Why? }
10... Qxf6
{ Really should have moved the king, but I don't thinkhe sees the rook threat. }
11. Qxb7 { Black resigns here. } 1-0
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.12.06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "thitho"]
[Black "mandrake53"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1842"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1754"]
1. c4 { another loss, due to a nice attack from mandrake. english } 1... Nf6 2.
Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 e5 { according to the computer, slide inaccuracy } 4. Bg2 Be7 5.
d3 O-O 6. e3 d5 7. cxd5 Nb4 8. e4 { white seems slightly better... } 8... c6 9.
a3 Na6 10. dxc6 Nc5 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. exd5
{ and all of sudden, the cardscastle seem fragile. } 12... Bf5 13. cxb7 Nxd3+
14. Kf1 Rb8 15. d6
{ computer saysthis is a clear mistake. Should have played g4 Bg6 16. d6 Qxd6 17. h4 Nc518. Qxd6 Bxd6 19. Be3 Nxb7 20. Bxa7 Ra8 21. Be3 }
15... Qxd6 16. Be3 e4 17. b4
{ once again a mistake according to the computer. Best is 17. g4 Bg6 18.h4 h6 19. Ne2 Rxb7 20. b4 Bh7 21. Qb3 Rc7 22. Rd1 Qg6 23. f3 exf3 24. Bxf3 }
17... Qe5 18. Ne2 Rfd8 19. Qb1 Rxb7 20. Ra2 Bg4
{ computer says this should havebeen followed by this: Bg4 21. Rd2 Rc7 22. h3 Bxe2+ 23. Kxe2 Rc3 24. Qa1Nxf2 25. Bd4 Rxd4 26. Qxc3 Rxd2+ 27. Kxd2 Qd6+ 28. Ke2 Nxh1 29. Bxh1 Buti have not seen it, and we have the continuation better for black. }
21. h3 Be6 22. Rd2 Bc4 23. Kg1 Bg5 24. Nf4
{ strange: mandrake told me in amessage he liked that move, but computer says it is a mistake. I like ittoo! }
24... Bxf4 25. Bxf4
{ of course, black cannot take back with horse: thereis a mate threat! } 25...
Qe7 26. Be3 a5 27. Qc2 Qe6
{ according to computer thismoves give me back the advantage... I have not seen so... too bad. }
28. bxa5 Rc8 29. Qa4 { this is clearly a mistake. } 29... Nb2 30. Qc2
{ and here isbecoming fatal. } 30... Bd3 31. Rxd3
{ black cannot take the queen... } 31... Nxd3 32. Qe2 Rb2 33. Qg4 f5
{ purchasing the queen } 34. Qh4 Ra2 35. Bf1 Ne5 36. Kg2 Nf3 37. Qf4 g5
{ gaining the queen } 38. Qxf3 exf3+ { hopeless, if not before... } 0-1
|
[Event "Thrajin's May 2009 Invitational"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.06.01"]
[Round "-"]
[White "rookie879"]
[Black "lefte"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1309"]
[TimeControl "9d+3d<12d"]
[WhiteElo "1493"]
1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nc6 3. Nd2 { Stonewall.I usually play Nd2 before Bd3 } 3... Nf6
4. Bd3 g6
{ This moves if Black fianchettos the Bishop.after c3 Black'sDSB is biting on granite. }
5. f4 Bf5 { Gives Black doubled pawns if I take.Idelay this though. } 6. Ngf3
h6 { if 6...Bxd3 7.cxd3 Black's e4 outpost disappear. } 7. Bxf5 gxf5 8. c4
{ questionable.If White is going to play the stonewallhe might as well play 8.c3 }
8... Nb4 9. O-O Nd3 10. Ne5 Ne4
{ ? This blundersa piece.Also bad is 10...Nxe5?! 11.fxe5 when Black's doubled pawns proveweak.Maybe best was 10... Nb4 admitting his 9th move was a waste of time. }
11. Nxd3 Nxd2 12. Bxd2 dxc4 13. Ne5 Qd5 14. Qh5 Rg8 { Threatning mate ong2. }
15. Qf3 { Offering a trade of queens } 15... e6 16. Qxd5 exd5
{ White willaim at trading off pieces. } 17. Rac1 b5
{ Black is trying to close the gameso it would be harder to convert my material advantage. }
18. Ba5 Bd6 19. b3 { Chipping away at c4. } 19... O-O-O
{ Loses a pawn and allows White to tradepieces. } 20. Nxf7 Rde8 21. Nxd6+ cxd6
22. Bb4 Kd7 23. bxc4 dxc4 24. Rf3
{ Aiming to play 25.Rg3 to contest that half open file and protect e3. } 24...
d5
{ Black gets his pawn on the opposite color of my bishop and tries tobuild a fortress. }
25. Kf2 a5 26. Bc5
{ I didn't want 26.Bxa5? Ra8 27.Bb4Rxa2+ winning a pawn and creating 2 passed pawns on the queenside. }
26... Rg7 27. Bb6 a4 28. a3 { Locking up the pawns for the time being. } 28...
Ra8 29. Rh3 Ra6 30. Rxh6 b4 { Black goes all or nothing to get a queen. } 31.
axb4 a3 32. b5 { We will see the usefulness of this move later. } 32... Ra4 33.
Bc5 a2 34. Rd6+ { Spite check. } 34... Kc7 35. Ra6
{ Amazing!Without the pawn on b5 Whitewould be worse!White stops Black from queening and gets another trade ofpieces. }
35... Rxa6 36. bxa6 { Black is lost now. } 36... Kb8 37. Ra1
{ Rounding up anotherpawn. } 37... Ka8 38. Rxa2 c3 39. Rc2 Rh7 40. h3 Rh8 41.
Rxc3 Rb8 42. a7 Rb2+ 43. Kf3 Rb1 44. h4 { Passed pawns must be pushed!(PPMBP) }
44... Rb7 45. h5 Rb1 46. h6 Rh1 47. Bb6
{ If 47.Rb3?? likes I originally planned,Then the rampantrook tactic comes into play.47.Rb3?? Rf1+! 48.Ke2 Re1+ 49.Kd2 Rd1+ etc.Samegoes for 48.Kg3 Rf3+! 49.Kh4 Rh3+! 50.Kg5 Rh5+ 51.Kg6 Rxh6+ etc. }
47... Rxh6 48. Rc8+ Kb7 49. Rb8+
{ Black resigns since the a-pawn will promote. } 1-0
|
[Event "TORNEO HOYA DEL CAMPO 2010"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "José Miguel"]
[Black "Iban Lucas"]
[Result "0-1"]
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 d3 4. Bxd3 d6 5. Nf3
{ After the game, Ivan and I discussed what had happened. The most correct move would have been for me to move f4 and then play Cf3. Alternative variation: 5. f4 Nc6 6. Nf3 }
5... Nc6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qc2 Ng4 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Nge5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5
{ In this moment, it would also have been a good move f4, casting the horse from e5 which occupies a very good position and at the same time giving my knight on c6 black squares a escape. }
11. Bb5+ { Alternative variation: 11. f4 } 11... Bd7 12. Bxd7+ Qxd7 13. Nd2 g5
14. Bg3 Bg7 15. f4
{ Another bad move, this move is favorable for blacks, whites lose all initiative. }
15... gxf4 16. Bxf4 Qg4
{ The blacks sense that attacking on the king's flank has something to gain, due to the poor placement of the white pieces. By moving the knight to g4, they threaten the bishop on f4, g2, and most importantly, prevent the whites from getting too comfortable. }
17. Rf1
{ Another devil's move, I won't get into trouble for blacks have much attack with the open g-file, although, the blues have enough cruel with such weak moves. }
17... O-O 18. Bg3 b5 19. Rf4 Qe6
{ The blacks, with this move, are continuing to exploit the whiteness of the king which cannot be untangled. }
20. Nb3 { Alternativevariation: 20. O-O-O Qxa2 } 20... Ng6 21. Nd4
{ This is another serious error, which practically costs the game. } 21... Bxd4
22. cxd4 Nxf4 23. Bxf4 Qg4 24. Qf2 Qg6 25. Qf3 e5
{ Las negras, atacan esplotando las devilidades del blanco. } 26. dxe5 dxe5 27.
Bxe5 Rfe8 28. Qf4 f6 29. Qxf6 Qxe4+ 30. Kd2 Rad8+ 31. Kc1 Qxe5 32. Qf3 Qe1+ 33.
Kc2 Qd2+
{ I abandoned, this is clear that I have learned a lot, but I believe I played with the game and lost since the beginning. }
0-1
|
[Event "International Chess Open Vegas Rd 1"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "John"]
[Black "freeman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1499"]
[TimeControl "60 min"]
[WhiteElo "1334"]
1. d4 b6
{ !? And here I was a bit unprepared. I was familiar with the Owensand the English defense so I was unsure if I should continue with 2. e4or not. }
2. c4 Bb7 3. Nc3 e6 { English defense } 4. a3
{ Here ah I wantedto be more Petrosian and not get into the whacky lines of e4...Bb4 thenf3 which is all part of the English defense mainlines which I was reallyblank on at the moment. }
4... Nf6 5. d5
{ !? Not being able to play e4 rightaway and not wanting to play either 5. e3 or 5. f3 as that would be a bittoo slow. 5. f3 would allow play to play Nh5 with counter play. 5. e3 hemsmy bishop on c1 forever. }
5... d6 6. Nf3 Be7
{ Now I could say Black is a verybad Queen's Indian pawn structure. } 7. g3 O-O
8. Bg2 Nbd7 9. O-O Nc5 10. Nd4
{ White's time remaining: 43 mins from 60 minutes. } 10... Qd7
{ Black's timeremaining: 37 } 11. b4 { Nd4 is heading to c6! } 11... e5 12.
bxc5 { ! } 12... bxc5 13. Nc6 Bxc6 14. dxc6 Qg4 15. Nd5 { 36 min remaining. }
15... Nxd5 { 30 mins remainingfor Black's time clock } 16. Bxd5
{ Black won the game but it was here Ifelt I had a won game. Just liquidate the pieces and win in the endgame. }
16... Kh8 17. e4
{ ?! not sure if the was a bad move or not. My King's positiondoes open up on the light squares later on Again, e3 seems bad on partof blocking my bishop in. }
17... Qh3 18. Qf3 Bf6 19. Rb1 Qc8 20. Rb7 { Time remaining:33 } 20... Kg8
{ 23 min remaining } 21. Bd2
{ In hindsight, my queenside play didnot achieve much. Perhaps, Kg2 with Rook-h1 and h2-h4-6 would have beena better attack. }
21... a5 22. Rfb1 a4 23. R1b5 h6 24. Ba5 Bd8 25. Qd1
{ timeremaining: 28 ?! probably the downfall of my position. chasing pawns wasuncalled for. }
25... g6
{ Time remainder: 18 mins. ! Here black begins a slowplan of an attack. } 26.
Qxa4 { ? } 26... Qg4 { ! } 27. Qc2 h5 28. a4 h4 29. Qd3
{ ?! And here Kg2 should have played several moves ago } 29... Kg7 30. Kg2
{ 17mins } 30... f5 { 12 min } 31. Bxc7
{ ?! here again h3 was called for. Again, I thoughtthe attack was bigger and better then defense. }
31... Bxc7 32. Rxc7+ Kf6 33. Qf3
{ ?? And here is what I get for drinking all night the night beforetournament and the first round is at 1130 am. }
33... h3+ { I resigned. } 0-1
|
[Event "Fast Ladder"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2016.05.23"]
[Round "-"]
[White "smallfry425"]
[Black "isakheim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1543"]
[TimeControl "3d+1d<3d"]
[WhiteElo "1624"]
1. e4
{ Hi everyone! This was one of the most interesting games I have everplayed, so I thought I might share it with you. My favorite style of playis sacrificial play with forced lines, but as I am a very low level chessplayer and new to this game, I rarely get the chance to play them myself.However, in this game an opportunity presented itself where i could sacrificea piece, and if the bait was taken - as far as i could see, but i actuallymade a couple of blunders on the way according to the postgame analyzes,giving him the opportunity to escape - every move after that would leadto me winning the end game, and in many variations if he should make thewrong move, check mate. }
1... c5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5
{ He begins with an openingi was not very familiar with (he is white and I am black). Queen straightto h5 pointing at checkmate at f7 if no action is taken. At his rank ithought it odd to go for such an obvious line, but then again he was probablyexpecting me to see this move, yet hoping to capture pawn at c5 if i playedg6. }
3... e6 { Instead I play e6, preventing checkmate and protecting pawn. } 4. Nh3
{ knight to h3 is also a move i rarely see used, instead of f3. Probablyhe was leaving f3 open for queen in anticipation of g6.. }
4... g6 5. Qf3 { g6and f3 comes. } 5... Nf6 6. c3 Ne5 7. Qe2
{ at this point i feel that his initialattack is fended off well and i am slightly ahead in development as a result. }
7... Bg7 8. f3 O-O 9. d4 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nxc4 11. Qxc4 d5 12. exd5 exd5 13. Qb3
{ Here i see that his king is very vulnerable, so i make an effort to removehis castling rights, which becomes cruicial later on. }
13... Qa5+ 14. Bd2 Re8+ 15. Kf2 Qa6 16. Nc3 Ng4+
{ And here comes the sacrifice. Had he not takenthe bait and moved 17. Kg3 instead then i think he would have been betterafter 17. ..Qd6+ 18. Bf4 although he would still have a vulnerable position. }
17. fxg4
{ From here on and out, a long line of forced play resultingin me getting the win at move 25. takes place. }
17... Bxd4+ 18. Kg3 Qd3+ 19. Kh4 Bf6+
{ This was my first blunder. Because after 20. Bg5 he would havemanaged to escape. Correct move would have been 19. ..Qxd2 }
20. g5 { Luckilyhe makes this move instead, and the checking continues. } 20...
Qd4+ 21. Bf4 Bxg5+ 22. Kxg5 Re5+ 23. Kh4 Bxh3
{ Once again i make a mistake! Had he played24. Rf1 now, he would have managed to escape. }
24. Kxh3 { Luckily he takesthe bait once more, and now the deal is sealed. }
24... Qxf4
{ here he has to preventcheckmate at 25. ..Rh5, and the only play available is his next move; }
25. g3 { g3. threatening queen and opening g2 for his king to escape. } 25...
Qf3
{ But here comes the nail in the coffin. After this move, he has no optionbut to sacrifice his queen to prevent 26. ..Rh5 checkmate. The game goeson for 25 more moves, but it is already clear that if dont make any mistakes,this game is won. I probably could have played a more effective end game,but my mind was already considering this a win (never a good idea i guess),so i focused on my other games and just made sure not to lose my advantage. }
26. Qxd5 Rxd5 27. Nxd5 Qxd5 28. Rhd1 Qf3 29. Rf1 Qh5+ 30. Kg2 Re8 31. Rf2 Re2
32. Rf1 Qd5+ 33. Kg1 Rxf2 34. Rxf2 Qd4 35. Kg2 Kg7 36. b3 Qc5 37. g4 a5 38. a4
Qd5+ 39. Rf3 Qe4 40. Kg3 Qb4 41. h3 b5 42. axb5 Qxb5 43. Kg2 h5 44. Kg3 hxg4
45. hxg4 Qg5 46. Rf4 f5 47. Kf3 fxg4+ 48. Rxg4 Qd5+ 49. Re4 Qxb3+
{ To me this was a very fun game, and despite some mistakes thatcould have ruined my plan, I think it is a good example of how importantit is to think of the possibilities you have many moves ahead, not justthe obvious ones that are right in front of you in plain sight :) }
0-1
|
[Event "Victory in 10 moves"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2015.10.30"]
[Round "-"]
[White "myminov"]
[Black "jutterback"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1563"]
[TimeControl "5d+2d<10d"]
[WhiteElo "1761"]
{ I am playing Black with a rating of 1563 and White has a rating about200 points higher than me. I was able to force White to resign the gamein 10 moves, and I am rather proud of that. In this game, White playsthe Kings Gambit and Black accepts. }
1. e4 { White sends a foot soldierforward two spaces. } 1... e5
{ Monkey see. Monkey do. } 2. f4 { White plays theKings Gambit. } 2... exf4
{ Black accepts. } 3. Nf3 { The white horse decides tocome out of his stall. }
3... g5 { Black supports his pawn. } 4. h4
{ White triesto dismantle the black pawns. } 4... g4
{ Black says screw it. Let's play chasethe horse. } 5. Ne5
{ The white horse moves out of harms way as expected.The black pawn on g4 is now quaking in his boots because the white queenand the white horse are threatening to eat him for lunch. }
5... Nf6
{ Black developsa horse which threatens the White pawn on e4 and also gives some protectionto that scared pawn on g4, but its not enough. }
6. Bc4
{ White leaves thatscared pawn alone for now. He has bigger fish to fry. White is threateningcheck by taking the black pawn on f7. }
6... d5
{ Black sends a foot soldier outin an attempt to at least forestall the check. }
7. exd5 { White pawn takesblack pawn. } 7... Bd6
{ Black sends out a bishop. This does a couple of nicethings. It keeps the white pawn from advancing and therefore takes thepressure off of the f7 pawn. It also threatens the white horse who standsunprotected at present. }
8. Qe2
{ The white horse stands his ground. Thewhite queen comes out to protect him. }
8... O-O
{ Black decides to castle inorder to put his rook into play. If the rook can make it to e8 white mightget a little nervous. }
9. O-O { Monkey see. Monkey do. } 9... Bc5+
{ 'Check' isalways a clever thing to do, and often a fun thing to say. } 10.
Kh1 { Thewhite king runs and hides. } 10... Ne4
{ The black horse offers himself up as asacrifice. He is hoping that queens like the taste of horse meat. Whiteexamines all his options and decides to resign after only 10 moves. Blackis thinking, wow, I better annotate this thing so I can remember how todo it the next time someone tries the Kings Gambit. }
0-1
|
[Event "Challenge from thaughbaer"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "26-Jun-07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "thaughbaer"]
[Black "paycek"]
[Result "*"]
[BlackElo "1367"]
[TimeControl "14 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
1. e4 { Keep it simple... don't want to confuse Kev too early. } 1... e6
{ Massiveblunder from black... he should have offered a draw. } 2. d4
{ Just do anything...sooner or later Kev will give up his queen. } 2... d5
{ Conflict... not a goodidea. } 3. exd5
{ Better take it... with less pieces Kev might move quicker. } 3... Qxd5
{ Come to Papa. } 4. Nf3
{ Just so Kev knows for sure the pawn is protected...by 2 pieces !! } 4... c5
{ Too late for queen's gambit now. } 5. Bb5+ { Start buildingthe honey trap. }
5... Bd7 { Come to me pretty. } 6. Nc3 { Surely he won't run kingside. } 6...
Qf5 { A little more rope I think. } 7. Bd3 { The noose tightens. } 7... Qf6
{ No phone call from the governor. } 8. Bg5 { Doh !! } *
|
[Event "jstevens1's mini-tournament VII"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2012.12.19"]
[Round "-"]
[White "last_archimedean"]
[Black "jkarp"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1175"]
[TimeControl "5d+5d<10d"]
[WhiteElo "1367"]
{ The lesson I gained from playing this game is: never give up. As longas the board is complicated enough that there's still tension in the position,you always have a chance. If you're down to bare King vs. you'r opponent'sKing and Rook, forget it, but if you have enough pieces to mount an attack... }
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3
{ I hate playing against the Sicilian defense as White,but once I open with P-K4, my opponent can force it on me. }
2... d6 3. d4
{ Thebest thing I can do is force a variation of the Sicilian which I feel isbad for Black. If I can play P-QB4, it will negate the effect of Black'sopening move. }
3... cxd4 4. Nxd4 { The usual exchange. } 4... Nf6 5. Bd3
{ By playingthis move instead of 5 N-QB3, I preserve my ability... } 5... g6 6.
c4 { ...todo this. } 6... Bg7 7. Nc3
{ Now I can develop my Knight *behind* the Pawn. } 7... O-O 8. O-O
{ Both sides tuck their Kings away, and the middle game can begineven though development still needs to be finished. }
8... Nfd7 9. Bf4
{ Oops.9 B-K3 was the correct move. i simply overlooked the fact my Knight wasen prise. }
9... Bxd4 10. Nd5
{ Another oversight. 10 N-R4 guards the Pawn, whichnow falls. } 10... Bxb2 11.
Rb1 { I *did*, however, see that my Rook was attacked. } 11... Bd4 12. Qg4
{ Now that I'm down a piece and a Pawn, I have no choice butto launch an attack. Passive play will surely lose. }
12... Nc5 13. Qg3 { Duckingout of the line of fire. } 13... Nxd3 14. Qxd3
{ I have to retake, of course. Butevery exchange is to my detriment, as it simplifies the position. }
14... Nc6 15. Rb3
{ I'm hoping to generate a K-side attack with the Q and R, in conjunctionwith my well posted Knight and Bishop. }
15... e5 16. Bh6
{ The beginnings of aplan. If I can get my Q to KB6... but the problem is that Black's Q isguarding that square. }
16... Re8 17. Qf3 { I move the Q into position. But nowwhat? } 17... Na5 18.
Rd3
{ Must duck out of the way. It's now 4th and 26, andI'm down to one desperation play. }
18... Nxc4 19. Nf6+
{ And the pass is complete!I win the Rook, reestablishing material equality. }
19... Kh8 20. Nxe8
{ If Blackdoesn't retake, I simply retreat the Knight, having reestablished materialequality. If Black does recapture... }
20... Qxe8 21. Qf6+
{ ...I gain access tothe crucial square, and have a mate in 1. Black resigns. }
1-0
|
[Event "Don't relax after a tense midgame..."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.06.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "damalfi"]
[Black "anpajan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "5/10"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bf4 g6 4. e3 Bg7 5. c3 f6
{ Interesting way to contestthe center. Until a sac is not possible in g6, it's perfectly ok. }
6. h3
{ The only thing I can do is to keep off black's lsb to g4, just in case.. }
6... e5 7. dxe5 fxe5 8. Bg5 Qd6 9. Qa4 Bd7 10. Bb5 Nge7
{ Now black is defending,but he has a very good center and wins me in developement. Concretely,if I had my Nb1 out of there, I would be able to bring my rook to d1, improvingmy position. h3 WAS a waste of a time, after all. }
11. g4
{ The conventionalplan Nb-e2, o-o-o, Nc4 looks ok, but just a little slow. So I tried tofurther limit black's moves, controlling the good f5. }
11... O-O
{ Black castlesthe right way. My forces are aimed to the queenside, and this correctlyopens the way for the rook's action. }
12. Nbd2 e4
{ This advance is notgood for black until he doesn't threat f2 seriously. It is better for himto keep the central tension and control. }
13. Nd4 a6
{ This loses a pawn,but a cost of a massive pieces exchange, and I'm not sure it was whortwhile. }
14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 17. Qxc6 Qf7
{ So I have myextra pawn, but... My pieces are still undeveloped, his are well placed. }
18. O-O a5 19. Rad1
{ He should have attacked b2 as soon as possible,to tie me. I don't know really how to proceed, because if I move my knight,his queen has a free highway to f3. }
19... Rad8 20. Qc5
{ This move is from adubious plan to move the f pawn, and it was intended to protect e3 in somelines. }
20... Rd6 21. f4
{ The only 'advantage' of my position is that the queenis in front of the rook, so I can challenge it with N or Rf3 if he takes. }
21... Qf6
{ How to proceed? It's really a nasty situation for me. Probably,I had to act trying to blockade the kingside and plan on the queenside,instead, taking a5 after reinforcing a2, etc. }
22. f5
{ Taking a risk.He cannot take inmediately, but he correctly envisaged... }
22... Qe5 { and I needto } 23. Kg2 { so he can } 23... gxf5
{ I was trying all the time to go Nc4, butnothing hanged behind. I even though about a sac for two pawns, but I didn'tdare. Anyway, with this plan, as often happens in chess, he gets a holeby losing one. }
24. Qxc7
{ Now it becomes more interesting, but I mustrecognize HIS 'hole' is larger than mine. But now I AM threatening Nc4.Only it is too late. }
24... fxg4 { Nc4, gxh+ then it start to rain. } 25. hxg4 Qe6 26. Kh3 Qh6+ 27.
Kg2 Rg6
{ Interestingly enough, black didn't take e3inmediately: QxR, Qe2+ and it's not for a blitz game to see if it wins,even if I suspect it does for black. }
28. Qd7
{ Of course I always hadRxR+, eliminating complications (and the possibility for him to play thereversed exchange that weakens my defence) but I wanted to keep some 'Iknow what I'm doing' attitude :-). I was almost lost, for sure: after Be5(If I take d5 it with check, then QxB, Rxg4+, Qg3... and I'm dead. }
28... Qxe3 { Right move, wrong timing. } 29. Qxd5+ Kh8 30. Rxf8+
{ I wasn't sure itwas the best thing to do, but no more risks... } 30... Bxf8
31. Qe5+
{ Check tograb some seconds. I tried to make it with Qf5, but I couldn't be sureafter Qe2+, Kmoves, Rxg4+, I could survive. I bet I couldn't, so I wentfor the endgame. }
31... Kg8 32. Qxe4 Qxe4+ 33. Nxe4 Rxg4+ 34. Kf3
{ ...and thisis a nice and interesting engame. I have a knight against a bishop in anopen position, with black with pawns on both sides, but I have one more.Probably I will win this, but there is a long game to play. }
34... h5 { But he,once relieved the tension, relaxed too much and blundered. }
35. Nf6+
{ I'msorry, but, yo played pretty well, and deserved to win. So this is tonight'slesson: check the outcomes of a position after the exchanges, and be carefulwith 'out-of-nowhere' tricks. }
1-0
|
[Event "MASACRE"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2013.06.03"]
[Round "-"]
[White "ploukou"]
[Black "zolerino"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1590"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1466"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. Ng5 O-O 7. d3 h6 8. Nf3
Bg4 9. a3 Nd4 10. b4 Nxf3+ 11. gxf3 Bd4 12. Bb2 Bh3 13. Re1
{ INICIO- START. 1, consolidate a strong position, preventing Knight to d5, somewhatbothering... with next move. }
13... c6 { Position consolidated. } 14. Rb1
{ (I'dnever expected that looks like a bonus-one extra move, since that rookmoved means nothing to my PLAN... , supposed -confirmed now- to checkmate,performing f6 Knight and my lovely Lady Black Queen into action, now. }
14... Nh5 { Knight first } 15. f4 { Queen like a laser! } 15... Qh4
{ -This game is notover yet. I just say that playing as white, at this position, I'd mostprobably would resign. }
16. Qf3 Bg4 17. Qg2 Nxf4 18. Qf1 Nh3+
{ no commentsneeded -or am I wrong anyhow possibly? } 19. Kh1 Bf3+ 20. Qg2
Nxf2+ 21. Kg1 Ng4+ 22. Kf1 Bxg2+ 23. Kxg2 Qxh2+ 24. Kf3 Qf4+ 25. Kg2 Qf2+ 26.
Kh3 Qf3+ 27. Kh4 g5+ 28. Kh5 Qh3# 0-1
|
[Event "% sMaShEd cRaBs % Mini #8"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.03.22"]
[Round "-"]
[White "francisbaron08"]
[Black "cenarius"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1723"]
[TimeControl "5d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1749"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4
{ the idea here was to borrow an approachused by Zuckerman in a game vs. Nikolic which appeared in the Jan. '71chess life & review magazine. }
4... Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 O-O 7. Qd2 Nc6 8. O-O-O a6 9. h3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Be6
11. Be2
{ the way this game develops thismay be the lemon here. Perhaps the direct 11 g4 here instead. }
11... Nd7 12. Kb1
{ played to prevent an exchange of bishops but black now comes up witha pair of good moves back to back. }
12... Bf6 13. Qd2 Nc5
{ suddenly it becomesplain that black is threatening a ferocious attack with ... b5! if whitegoes in for passive defense with 14 f3. }
14. Be3
{ offering a pawn by14 ... Bxc3 15 Qxc3 Nxe4 16 Qd4 with some counterchances. }
14... b5 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Nd5 c4 17. Qe3 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 Qe7
{ some careful thought was necessaryhere as there are some possible pins which reduce the viability of an e5by white. }
19. f4 Qb4 20. c3 Qa5
{ it is difficult to read if this was anoversight by black. an alternative was 20 ... Qe7 but 21 g4 has to reckonedwith by black. }
21. e5 Be7 22. f5 { white had to lay off of the 'c' pawnbecause of ... c6! }
22... Rad8 23. Bxc4 Rxd5
{ instead 23 ... Qb6 was a real possibilityplaying for a draw with the opposite colored bishops. }
24. Bxd5 Rd8 25. f6 Bf8 26. Bb3 Qb6 27. Qe4 { still playing for a win } 27...
g6 28. e6 fxe6 29. Bxe6+ Kh8 30. f7
{ the pawn on f7 creates some tactical possilities andprevents black from playing ... Re8. }
30... b4 31. Rf1 Bg7 32. Bb3
{ this givesblack a problem to solve. 32 ... c6 loses to 33 Qe8+ Bf8 34 Qe5+! Bg735 f8Q+! 32 ... Qb8 looks to be black's only move. white has some pressureon black, but the win needs to be figured out. 33 cxb4 would give whitea second pawn but the issue would remain undecided. }
32... Qb5 33. f8=Q+ { forcingmate or loss of the queen. } 33... Rxf8 34. Rxf8+
Bxf8 35. Qd4+ 1-0
|
[Event "The Archduke and his artilliary are Joblocked!!"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2017.01.08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "archduke_piccolo"]
[Black "jstevens1"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "1750"]
[TimeControl "3d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "2108"]
{ Hi everyone! This is my thirty-second match against The Archduke with30 losses to my name against him sigh and double sigh! I have had a greattendency to fall into a lot of tactical traps in the middlegame and endup resigning with a loada egg on my face. Will it happen again? Welleither check out the gameknot analysis below (spoiler alert!) or read on..... }
1. d4 { 1.d4 - Ion decides on queen pawn opening play. } 1... d5 2. c4 dxc4
{ 2. ....... dxc4 - the QGA. } 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. exd4
{ 5. exd4- a plethora of exchanges leaves Ion with an isolated queen pawn. CanI exploit this? We shall see. }
5... Nf6 6. Qb3 Qe7+
{ 6. ..... Qe7+ - afterIon's Q and lsb pile up on my poor little f7 pawn, Glenda finds herselfpressed into defensive (and attacking?) duties on only move 7. }
7. Be3 Qb4+ 8. Nc3 Qxb3 9. Bxb3
{ 9. Bxb3 - queen trade. At least the threat onf7 has now disappeared but Ion has a lead in development. I need to clearthe decks fast! }
9... c6 10. Nf3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6
{ 11. ...... fxe6 - this bishoptrade now leaves me with an isolani. However, at least one of Ion's activepieces is no more. }
12. Ke2 Nd5 13. Ng5 Ke7
{ 13. ...... Ke7 - Henry mustdefend that e6 pawn and stop a knight incursion onto f7. Although oneof my knights is on an active square I still have to develop my queen knightand Fou Lenoir. }
14. Nce4 h6 15. Nf3 Nd7
{ 15. ..... Nd7 - Ion's knighthas been driven back and I have now developed my queen knight. I mustsomehow find a way to get Fou Lenoir in the game. }
16. h4 Kf7 17. g4 Be7
{ 17. .... Be7 - at last Fou Lenoir is in play and I have now cleared thedecks. Ion still has the more active position sigh and double sigh! }
18. h5 N7f6 19. Nxf6 Bxf6 { 19. ....... Bxf6 - Knight trade. } 20. Rag1 Nxe3
21. fxe3 Rae8
{ 21. ...... Rae8 - In the chat Ion wondered why I exchangedmy active knight for his seemingly passive bishop and for uniting his dpawn with his e pawn. The solution is in this move. It prepares e5 whereI will swap off my isolated e pawn with his d pawn giving him an isolatede pawn. However, the plan did not work out in the way I expected. }
22. Rf1 Kg8 23. Ne5 Bxe5 24. dxe5
{ 24. dxe5 - the pawn push to e5 was scupperedby Ion playing his rook to f1. I would have lost a pawn if I had playede5 due to the rook pinning Fou Lenoir against Henry once his knight moved. However, Ion gives himself a doubleton isolani on the same file as myown isolani so at least I have given him a bit of a concession. However,there is a danger that Ion could make use of the f and d files for hisrooks and so I must now prevent a rook incursion on my second rank by playingmy rook to e7 on the next turn. }
24... Re7 25. Rf4 Kh7 26. Rhf1 Rd8
{ 26. ......Rd8 - preparing to double on the d column and then harass King Ion. }
27. Rd4 Rxd4 28. exd4 { 28. exd4 - rook trade } 28... Kg8 29. Kd3 Rf7 30. Rxf7
Kxf7
{ 30. ..... Kxf7 - so I find myself in my first ever K&P ending againstThe Coach. Can Henry get over to the queenside to stop King Ion comingin trying to gobble up my pawns? We shall see. }
31. Kc4 Ke7 32. a4 { 32.a4 - was expecting Kc5. } 32... b6 33. b3
{ 33. b3 and DRAW OFFER of which I acceptimmediately. Gameknot analysis describes the position as roughly evenwith the miniscule edge in Ion's favour so this turned out to be a goodacceptance. Avoiding a rout against Ion is a victory in itself! }
1/2-1/2
|
[Event "Challenge from wanstone"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2016.01.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "wanstone"]
[Black "davewelsby"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1721"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1694"]
1. e4
{ This is only my second game, trying out the Traxler counter gambit.As always, it's a fierce opening which leads to a quick defeat for whiteafter 12 moves. }
1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 { So far so good. } 4. Ng5
{ Whitegoes on the attack, bringing forward the knight } 4... Bc5
{ So black counterattacks with the bishop } 5. Nxf7
{ This is possibly the more dangerousline for white to take at this point, but also the quickest route to materialadvantage. }
5... Bxf2+
{ Take that! - black invites white to take the bishop- opening up all sorts of nasty possibilities for black counterplay }
6. Kf1
{ Black wisely declines to take the bishop for now and heads for coveron the f file }
6... Qe7 { The black queen moves to safety } 7. Nxh8
{ White chewsup the available material } 7... d5
{ Black attacks and opens the diagonal forthe LSB } 8. exd5
{ p X p attacking the knight on C6 } 8... Nd4
{ So the knightjoins the attack, moving to d4 } 9. h3
{ White pushes the pawn to try andprevent the bishop on C1 staring down the queen on g4 }
9... Ne4
{ So now thesecond knight joins the attack, creating a formidable centre } 10.
c3 { Whitetries to push the knight from its perch } 10... Qf6
{ Black ignores the threatand creates an instant threat of its own down the f file }
11. g4 { Whitetries to create an escape hatch, but it's all over } 11... Bg3+
{ Bishop to g3check (or to e1) leaves the King facing mate on the next move }
12. Kg1 Qf2# { The fat lady has sung..... } 0-1
|
[Event "IV Open de Ajedrez"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "Sanhueza, Felipe"]
[Black "Depallens, Andrés"]
[Result "*"]
{ Comenta, Felipe Sanhueza } 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7
{ There is nothing to say about the opening, it is all known. } 5. e5 Nfd7 6.
Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 c5 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Qd2
{ A consideración era Cb5 de las blancas en vezde Dd2 } 9... Nc6 10. Be2 a6
{ Se acabo el librito } 11. dxc5 Qxc5
{ The whites are looking for vulnerable points on h7 and must try to exploit them, so they must open up a path for their knight to play. }
12. Bd3 f5 13. g4 d4
{ The whites are trying to play in their style, to crush quickly, however the blacks have a good resource to counteract said attack. }
14. Ne2 Nb4
{ The black pieces had this recourse available and I, in some way, 'looked at the egg' which complicated the game and made them definitively superior due to the subtleties. }
15. gxf5 Nxd3+ { It was better for the whites to have played Cfxd. } 16. Qxd3
Rxf5 { The white queen said it was a winning advantage for her. } 17. Nfxd4
Nxe5 { Desesperación } 18. fxe5 Rxe5 19. Nb3 Qf2+ *
|
[Event "Chess game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "August 22, 2018"]
[Round "-"]
[White "eric2jin"]
[Black "gammadust"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1785"]
[TimeControl "3+10 blitz"]
[WhiteElo "1272"]
1. e4 { normal } 1... c5 { sicilian } 2. Nf3 { knight } 2... g6 { fancietto }
3. Nc3 { knight } 3... Bg7 { bishop } 4. Bc4 { bishop } 4... e6 { pawn } 5. d3
{ pawn } 5... a6 { pawn } 6. O-O { castle! } 6... Nc6 { knight } 7. Be3
{ bishop } 7... Nd4 { blocked! } 8. e5 { not for long } 8... d5 { pawn } 9. Bb3
{ only move } 9... Nxb3 { knight } 10. axb3 { opening up rook file } 10... b6
{ pawn } 11. d4 { attack!!!!!!!!!!!!1 } 11... Qc7 { defend } 12. Nb5
{ attack! } 12... axb5 { ooops,black } 13. Rxa8 { bye bye rook } 13... Ne7
{ knight } 14. dxc5 { die } 14... bxc5 { pawn } 15. Qe2 { wow! } 15... O-O
{ castle } 16. Qxb5 { bye bye } 16... Nf5 { ? } 17. Bxc5 { Blackresigns... }
1-0
|
[Event "A rise from the ashes."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2013.10.27"]
[Round "-"]
[White "stargate2"]
[Black "vavavi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1335"]
[TimeControl "10 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1268"]
1. d4
{ So here's a game played against stargate2 where at first i wasgetting completely destroyed but then managed to win the game by forcingmy opponent to resign. }
1... d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e3 g6 4. c4
{ i maybe should havedeclined the gambit, but i was afraid white might push the pawn to c5,gaining alot of space. }
4... dxc4 5. d5 { this was a odd move, i didn't reallyknow how to respond. }
5... Nb4
{ and of course i chose the worst possible placeto move my knight to. } 6. Qa4+
{ wins the knight here } 6... Qd7 7. Qxb4 Qxd5 8. Bxc4
{ and now he takes the gambit pawn back, and gains tempo at thesame time. }
8... Qd6
{ i tried to get the queens off,to get a little break anddevelop in peace, without my queen being chased all the time. }
9. Qb3 Bg7
{ this was a blunder because i didn't pay attention to the pressure on f7. }
10. Bxf7+ { another pawn lost, and I'm getting desperate. } 10... Kf8 11. O-O
e6 { attacking the bishop now atleast. } 12. Rd1
{ again my queen being chased. } 12... Qe7 13. Qd3
{ i could have taken the bishop, but I'm not sure why i didn't. } 13... Bf6 14.
Bxg6 { losing another pawn, and was thinking of resigning here. } 14... hxg6
{ why he sacrificed his bishop, i don't know. } 15. Qxg6 Rh6
{ chasingthe queen once myself } 16. Qe4 Bd7
{ This was another bad move, just givingup the pawn. I don't really know what was i doing in this game. }
17. Qxb7 Qe8 18. Qxc7
{ another pawn lost, i actually clicked resign here, but decidednot to confirm it yet. }
18... Bg5 19. Rxd7 { bye bye bishop, here i just decidedto get mated. } 19...
Rd8
{ Here i knew the rook cannot move, because of back rowcheck, and i decided to do everything i can to get the rook to move. }
20. Qc5+ Be7
{ This was a decent move on my behalf, because attacking the queen,and queen cannot take because 21..... qxe7, loses the queen. }
21. Rxe7
{ Here my opponent blundered badly, he bites the apparently 'lose' bishoptrap and i was reliefed to win this game. }
21... Rd1+
{ and here white resigns,this was a very very bad game on my behalf, but i got lucky at the endand managed to win the game with last ditch effort. }
0-1
|
[Event "Chess game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "August 19 2018"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Magnus Carlsen "]
[Black "Sergey Karjakin "]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[TimeControl "Unknown "]
[WhiteElo "2842"]
1. c4 { English opening } 1... e6 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O { Castle } 5.
Nf3 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. d4 dxc4 8. Ne5 Nc6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Nxc6
{ Magnus isback on track } 10... Qe8 11. Nxe7+ Qxe7 12. Qa4 c5 13. dxc5 Qxc5
14. Be3 Qc7 15. Rd1 Nd5 16. Bd4 Rd8 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. Qc2 Qe7 19. O-O Bh3
{ Bishop out } 20. Rfe1 Rd7 21. Bc3 Re8 22. Rd4 Qg5 23. Qd2 Qxd2
{ Queen trade } 24. Rxd2 Be6 25. Red1 Rde7 26. f3 h5 27. Kf2 { King! } 27... f6
28. Rd4 Kh7 29. R1d2 Bf7 30. h3 a6 31. Rf4 Kg8 32. Bd4 Kh7 33. Bc3 Kg8 34. g4
hxg4 35. hxg4 Kh7 36. Rf5 Rb7 37. Rfxd5 { What??? Why! } 37... Bxd5 38. Rxd5
Kg6 39. Rc5 Rh8 40. Kg3 Rb6 41. Rxc4 { Back to equal endgame } 41... Rh1 42.
Rc7 Rc1 43. Rd7 Rc6 44. a4 Rg1+ { Check } 45. Kf2 Ra1 46. a5 Ra4 47. Kg3 Rac4
48. Ra7 Re6 49. e4 Rc8 50. Rd7 Rec6 51. f4 R8c7 52. f5+ { Check } 52... Kh7 53.
Rd8 Rc8 54. Rd3 Re8 55. Kf4 Rc7 56. Rd4 Rce7 57. Rc4 Kh6 58. Kf3 Rd7 59. Bd4
Kh7 60. b4 Rd6 61. Ke3 Kh6 62. Rc1 Kh7 { Dancing king } 63. Bb6 Rd7 64. Bc5
Red8 65. Rh1+ { Check } 65... Kg8 66. Kf4 Re8 67. Re1 g5+ { !? } 68. fxg6
{ En passent } 68... Kg7 69. g5 Kxg6 70. gxf6 Kxf6 71. Rh1 Rf7 72. Ke3 Ke6 73.
Rh4 Rf6 74. Rh7 Rf7 75. Rh5 Kd7 76. e5 Rf1 77. Ke4 Kc6 78. Rh6+ Kb5 79. Rb6+
{ Check } 79... Kc4 80. e6 Re1+ 81. Kf5 Rf1+ 82. Ke5 Re1+ 83. Kf6 Rf1+ 84. Kg7
Ra8 85. e7 Re1 86. Kf7 Re4 87. Rd6 Rh8 { !?? } 88. Rxa6 { Black resigns } 1-0
|
[Event "WTW challenge from elyhim"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2015.03.06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "immortalpawn"]
[Black "elyhim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2528"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1365"]
1. d4 { Standard opening move for me } 1... Nf6 2. f3
{ Trying to play into theBDG with 1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 d5 3. e4, in more recent games I have played 2.Nc3 which I found got me to the position I wanted more frequently Theidea was from this article http://sawyerbdg.blogspot.co.nz/2011/08/blackmar-diemer-gambit-huebsch-after.html }
2... e6
{ I was not sure how to respond to this at the time, initial thoughtswere e5 and Nc3 both of which would have given me a more familiar position }
3. Be3
{ I ended up looking at the GameDB and the options were limited,I hadn't considered Bg5 at that point and discounted it because GameDBsuggested it was more favourable for black 46%-53% I ended up playingBe3 which seemed more favourable for white, however it cramped my normalposition and didnt allow me to play e5 and blocked the a6-f1 diagonal }
3... d5 4. Bf2
{ This again was a GameDB move, which suggested it was the bestoption for white at this stage I was aware of the rule of not moving apiece more than once in the opening but felt no choice, other options lookingat this position could have been Nc3 but not really comfortable with theposition of the bishops }
4... c5 5. dxc5
{ pawn is protected by the bishop onf2 and expecting him to play 5..Bxc5 6. Bxc5 Qa5+ to regain the bishop }
5... Qc7
{ This seems to put pressure on the c2 square with Bxc5 Bxc5 and Qxc5 } 6. Nc3
{ Trying to get back to development } 6... Bxc5 7. Bd4
{ elyhim: 7. Bd2is a bad move. For one you moved the bishop three times. Second, 7...e5will over run you in the centre I understood what elyhim was saying aboutmoving the bishop 3 times, I was sure he meant Bd4 - the logic I feel lookingat the position is that I wanted to play Bxd4 Qxd4 which gave me more controlin the centre, I didn't take into account e5 properly Better options couldhave been e4 which would challenge the centre and after dxe4 fxe4 Nxe4Nxe4 I would be able to play Nf3 and have some more emphasis on the centre.Another obvious option is Bxc5 Qxc5 e4 }
7... e5 8. Bxc5
{ Essentially the previousbishop move was a waste of tempo for me plus 4th move of the bishop }
8... Qxc5 9. e4
{ I felt this was probably my best move now expecting dxe4 fxe4 Nxe4Nxe4 threatening the queen }
9... d4
{ Hmmmfff.. forcing me to move my knightagain with options at Na4 Nb1 Ne2, I discounted Nd5 Na4 threatens the queenbut was countered with Qb4+ Nb1 seemed to be a backwards move with no realbenefit Interestingly the post game analysis didnt identify inacuraciesor blunders from move 3 to move 17 alsthough the score was -2.25 for elyhim PGA advice on move 3 was Best: -0.38 » 3. e4 Nc6 4. Nh3 Bb4+ 5. c3 Be76. Bd3 O-O 7. Be3 d6 8. O-O e5 9. Na3 Bxh3 10. gxh3 Qd7 }
10. Nce2 O-O { Gettingthe king to safety before an attack } 11. c3 dxc3 12.
Nxc3
{ At this pointI felt like I had created some more space but looking at the position Istill had an undeveloped bishop and knight on the queenside with all mymoves being defensive, I am expecting him to bring his queenside piecesinto play soon }
12... Nc6
{ Looking at the position now it appears a very strongmove for black as he asserts more control on the centre with this move,protecting the pawn on e5 and putting pressure on the d4 square }
13. Qd2
{ In hindsight this almost seems a wasted move, although the material iseven I am clearly on the back foot in this position, perhaps Bd6 wouldhave been a better move? }
13... Rd8 14. Qf2
{ My logic at the time is that themateriel was even here and to trade queens would relieve some of the pressure,downside is castling would be out of the question if he traded }
14... Qa5
{ Iwas suprised to see this move and was trying to figure out what he wasgoing to do next, perhaps Nb4 or b5? }
15. Bc4
{ Took the chance to bringout the bishop and prepare to castle if I can get the knight out }
15... Rd4 16. Bb3
{ OOther thoughts at the time were b3 to protect the bishop but didn'tplay that as it would allow Qxc3 }
16... Nb4
{ Threatening Nd3 forking the queen,I was reluctant to move the king as I still felt castling was an option }
17. Rd1
{ I really felt like this was my best option at the time as it defended the d3 square and still didn't move the king. PGA gave the following about my inaccuracy: Inaccuracy: -3.00 » 17. Rd1 Nd3+ 18. Rxd3 Rxd3 19. Nge2Bd7 20. O-O Rd2 21. Rb1 Bc6 22. Qe3 Qb6 23. Qxb6 axb6 24. Bc4 Rc8 Best: -2.23 » 17. Kf1 b6 18. Qe3 Ba6+ 19. Nge2 Rad8 20. Kf2 Bxe2 21. Nxe2 Rd2 22. Rad1 Nd3+ 23. Kg3 Nxb2 24. Rxd2 Rxd2 }
17... Rxd1+
{ considering the previouscomment, I was interested to see that elyhim didn't play the Nd3 Rxd3 Rxd3option? }
18. Kxd1 { Forcing the king back into the firing line.. } 18... Be6 19. Ba4
Rd8+ 20. Ke2 Bc4+ 21. Ke1 Nd3+
{ Overall I felt a very weak game byme, I don't think I have played the paleface attack before and certainlyam not comfortable with the positions that I got myself into. I think ifI had played differently at move 3 the game could have been a strongerone by me, well played elyhim }
0-1
|
[Event "Canadain Bacon mini-tournament I"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.04.11"]
[Round "-"]
[White "elyhim"]
[Black "ashleyanderson"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1085"]
[TimeControl "3d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "2030"]
{ Chess is mostly about reoccurring patterns. Once these patterns becausefamiliar to your eye you can then experiment on which plans work and don'twork. Until then you are kinda flying in the dark. Recognizing patternsin chess allows you to develop an instinct of knowing where and when toplace your pieces. It also allows you to develop a instinct for knowingwhen your opponent has made a mistake and punishing him/her for it. Althoughashleyanderson is only ranked 1000 he played very well and should be proudof himself. Ashelyanderson you can greatly improve your play if you followthese 3 simple rules in the beginning 1. seize control of the centre asquickly as possible 2. develop your pieces toward the centre where theywill not be attacked or forced to move twice in a row 3. Keep things simplyby making the most logical move. The great grand masters like Karpov, Capablancaand Petrosian earned their World Champion title because of their simplisticplaying style. }
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6
{ ? not the best move becausein the D-pawn games Black's main counter play is found in c7-c5. Now inblack has to move his knight again in order to play c7-c5. Also the knightmost natural developing square is d7 where it can watch over c5 and e5. If you look at the position and think for a moment you will natural seethat playing ...e6 comes to mind because it supports and strengthens theD-pawn and activates the dark bishop. Conversely if you think about ...Nc6you get the sense it must feel awkward and cramping. }
4. Nf3 g6
{ !? thisis a good move but one that I can not recommend for ashleyanderson becausehis skill level does not suit the skill needed in order to fianchettoingthe bishop effectively. You will win alot more games by keeping thingssimple and capitalizing on your opponents mistakes with moves like ..Bg4followed by ...e6 or ...e6 followed up with ...Bb4 are ideal }
5. e3
{ Thisis move is similar to ashleyandersons g6 move in that it requires skillin order to be effective. It main disadvantage is that it locks in thedark bishop which is not good. However, because I have played similar positionsin the past I know that the opening and control of the c file is criticalto success. So developing my pieces on the queen side is my objective.I plan to develop my bishop to a3, b2 or d2 depending on how the game turnsout }
5... Be6
{ ? This supports the d5 pawn but is not a good opening move becauseit hinders the development of the center king pawn and the kings bishop.As a rule if you play g6 then Bg7 should immediately follow. Also blackhad nothing to fear from the capture of the d5 pawn. In this case blackcan use the formula for knowing if a piece/space is under a serious threatof being captured. The formula is as follows Simply ask 1. How many piecesdo I have attacking the square 2. How many pieces does my opponent havedefending the square. If the answer is you have more pieces attacking thenyou will win the exchange. For i.e White has 2 pieces attacking d5 while... Black has 2 pieces defending d5 Therefore after 5. ...Bg7 6. Cxd5? Nxd57. Nxd5 Qxd5 black is equal and white gains very little from the exchange. }
6. a3 { This prevents ...Nb4 and prepares for Bd3 or Qc2. } 6... h6
{ ?? a majorwaste of time that leads to a lot of trouble for black. As a rule you shouldnever move the pawns in front of the castled kings or the side that youintend to castle toward good alternative moves would have been. 6. ...dxc4(thisis best cause it releases pressure in the centre) or 6. ...Bg7 }
7. Bd3
{ developing a piece to maximize influence over the centre squares and putpressure on the weakened g6 point. }
7... Bg7
{ a good move that follows the2 simple rules outlined in the introduction. } 8.
cxd5
{ with my nicelycentered pieces and greater control of the center I am ready to attackin the center. This why I recommend that ashleyanderson not play the fainchettoopenning because one has to take care that the centre remains neutral(andthis requires a lot of chess intuition to know). Ashleyanderson shouldfocus more in the future moves that control the centre directly. }
8... Bxd5
{ Ashleyanderson was doing ok until this point. Understandably it is difficultto answer the question, 'Do I capture with the knight or the bishop?' Whenmost of the pieces are on the board the answer is almost always with theknight! During the opening phase you use the knight to capture back towardthe center. Bishops are usually long term assets that work best in theendgame. So trading them off in the opening is never a good plan. Thinkof it this way KNIGHTS as short term assets that are more useful withlots of pawns and pieces on the board. So they are one of your strongestpieces early in the game. So use them early BISHOPS are long term assetsthat increase in power the pawns and pieces are removed off the board.So just like fine wine your bishops get mature with age. So hold onto them! }
9. e4
{ Lesson learned!! I hope: If it is early in the game capture backwith the knight not the bishop. }
9... Be6
{ During the game Ashleyanderson said'not really sure what I am doing, I felt like I was trying to get piecesin play but now am being forced to pull back. any thoughts?' This unfortunatepredicament is a result of poor development of the bishop, capturing backwith the wrong piece, and unnecessary pawn moves. Instead of 5...Be6 iwould recommend ...Bg4 as the ideal developing square for the bishop. }
10. d5
{ A cruel move that is played without mercy. However, chess doesnot favor the merciful. }
10... Ng4
{ never hang a piece! as distasteful as itwas playing 10. ...Nxd5 it was the best. But I do not fault Ashleyandersonfor not wanting to play it! }
11. dxe6 fxe6
{ with the doubled pawns infront of the king black is seriously cramped. Also you can by comparingthe pawn structures determine who is fairing better. White has two connectedpawn chains. vs Black's three pawn islands. One of the simplest waysto win a game quickly is to create pawn weaknesses are the enemy king becausethey create open lines to the king or create endgame targets. There areseveral varieties: isolated, doubled, too advanced and blockaided. seehow many pawn weaknesses you can discover in for both white and black. }
12. O-O { before you attack make sure your own king is safe! } 12... Qd6
{ rememberto develop your pieces to squares where they can not be attacked Qd7 wouldbe fine }
13. Nb5 Qc5 { Qd7 was a must to prevent the fork } 14. Nxc7+
{ Iknow I know I am so cruel! } 14... Kd7 15. Nxa8 Rxa8 16. Bc4+
{ my attack is verystrong because I followed the 2 simple rules in the introduction. Thisis positional play at its best. Against a well coordinated team there isno defense. }
16... Nd4 17. Nxd4 Bxd4
{ please notice that most of the pieceshave been traded off the board. Notice how powerful the bishops are. Nownotice the little wimpy horse hanging out to dry all by himself! }
18. Be3 Qxc4 19. Rc1 Nxe3
{ good job Ashleyanderson in managing to get a returnfor that wimpy knight }
20. fxe3 Qb5 21. Qxd4+
{ here my pawn weakness canbe tolerated because the advantage of the open lines to the king are better.Also black has nothing to attack them with anyway so they are fine. }
21... Ke8 22. Qh8+ Kd7 23. Rfd1+ { black resigns } 1-0
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.06.05"]
[Round "-"]
[White "br246"]
[Black "aspiemikey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1315"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1283"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 { I develop my knight to defend my pawn... } 3. Bb5 d6
{ ...and I move up my pawn to give my queen a bit more room, and to freeup her bishop. }
4. Nc3 f6 5. Nd5 Bd7 { I move up my bishop to unpin theknight... } 6. Bxc6 Bxc6
{ ...so I swap my knight for his bishop... } 7. Nb4
{ ...forcing one of his knights to retreat... } 7... Bxe4
{ ...so I accept thepawn... } 8. d3 Bxf3 { ...and the knight... } 9. Qxf3
{ ...but lose the bishop. } 9... c6 10. c3 Qd7
{ I move up my queen to control the c8-h3 diagonal... } 11. Qe4 d5
{ ...and now I build a pawn bridge, attacking the queen... } 12. Qf3
{ ..and as the queen retreats... } 12... Bxb4 { ...I can remove the knight... }
13. cxb4 { ...at the expense of my bishop. } 13... O-O-O
{ Now I castle queenside... } 14. O-O { ...he does so kingside... } 14... Ne7
{ ...and I bring up my knight andfree my other rook. } 15. Bd2 e4
{ Now I fork the queen and a pawn... } 16. dxe4 dxe4
{ ...and we swap pawns... } 17. Qe3 Qxd2 { ...and I accept the bishop... } 18.
Qxe4 { ...but lose the pawn. } 18... Ng6 { Now I bring up my knight... } 19. b3
Rhe8 { ..and attack the queen... } 20. Qg4+ Qd7
{ ...but use mine to blocka check. } 21. Qh5 Rh8
{ I put my rook back to cover its pawn... } 22. Rad1
{ ...he attacks my queen... } 22... Qe6 { ...so I move her our of the way... }
23. Rfe1 { ...so he brings out his other rook to attack her... } 23... Rxd1
{ ...soI capture a rook, and keep its twin pinned to its starting rank... } 24.
Qxd1 { ...and he removes mine. } 24... Rd8
{ I can't understand why I did this,other than hoping that he'd take my queen, and the I'd take his, settingup a checkmate... }
25. Qb1 { ...but he lets me off the hook by moving hisqueen out of the way... }
25... Qd5 { ...so I do likewise... } 26. f3 Nf4
{ ...andbring my knight on the attack... } 27. Rf1 Qd3
{ ...and attack the queen... } 28. Qa1
{ ...and he moves her out of the way... } 28... Qd4+
{ ...to a place whereI can perform a royal fork... } 29. Kh1
{ ...but he declines to take my queen... } 29... Qxa1 { ...so I take his... }
30. Rxa1 { ...but lose mine. } 30... Rd4
{ Now I bringmy rook up to pressure the b4 pawn... } 31. g3 Ne2
{ ...but my knight mustmove out of the way, so I bring it up... } 32. Re1
{ ...so he pressures itwith his rook... } 32... Nc3
{ ...and I attack his left-hand pawn... } 33. a3 { ...butmoving it... } 33...
Rd1 { ...allows me to pin the rook to its starting rank... } 34. Rxd1 Nxd1
{ ...so we swap. } 35. Kg2 Ne3+ 36. Kf2 Nc2
{ My knight is guaranteedto remove a pawn... } 37. a4 Nxb4
{ ...and it turns out to be the b4 pawn. } 38. Ke3 b5
{ I push up my b-pawn to pressure the one on the far side... } 39. a5
{ ...but he pushes it... } 39... c5
{ ...so I move up my c-pawn to allowmy knight to move into the square... } 40.
Kd2 Nc6 { ...so I pressure teleft-hand pawn... } 41. a6
{ ...but he pushes it... } 41... Nb4 42. Kc1 Nxa6
{ ...butI finally remove it. } 43. f4 c4
{ ...now I pressure the final queensidepawn... } 44. Kb2 cxb3 45. Kxb3
{ ...and we swap. } 45... Nc5+ { I attack the kingwith my knight... } 46. Kb4
Nd3+ { ...and again... } 47. Kxb5 { ...and losea pawn... } 47... Kd7
{ ...so I get my king moving to eliminate his kingside pawns. } 48. Ka6 Ke6 49.
Kxa7 { I lose my last queenside pawn... } 49... Kf5 50. Kb7 Kg4 51. Kc7 Kh3 52.
Kd7 Kxh2 { ...but I finally remove a kingside pawn... } 53. Ke7 Kxg3
{ ...and another... } 54. f5 Kf4 55. Kf7 Kxf5 { ...and the last pawn... } 56.
Kxg7 { ...and lose one myself... } 56... h5
{ ...but my left flank pawn nowhas a clear run. } 57. Kh6 h4 58. Kh5 h3 59. Kh6
h2 60. Kg7 h1=Q { I getmy queen... } 61. Kf8 Qh7
{ ...she pins the king to my bottom rank... } 62. Ke8 Qg7 63. Kd8 Qf7 64. Kc8
Qe7 65. Kb8 Qd7 66. Ka8 Nc5
{ ...and my opponentlet this game time out, as the next move would be checkmate. }
0-1
|
[Event "75th GK tournament"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.11.01"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jucabaga7578"]
[Black "dwardman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1663"]
[TimeControl "2 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1340"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 { I wasn't expecting that, will just continue as usual } 2...
e6 3. a3 { I think this is a little defensive } 3... Be7 4. e3
{ Well the blackbishop is locked in } 4... O-O 5. Be2 d5
{ I am looking to expand on the queenside and c5 is coming } 6. Bg4
{ I will continue with developing my pieces } 6... c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Bf3
{ The bishop has now moved 3 times ?? } 8... Nc6 9. Nge2
{ it is all square but black has a little bit more space } 9... a6 10. O-O Ne5
{ Time to begin mobilising, I plan to exploit the half open c file } 11. Ng3
Qc7 12. Be2 b5 13. b4
{ I could have won a pawn here but think it istoo early to exchange a bishop for a knight }
13... Be7 { this C file is goingto cause problems } 14. Bb2 Bb7 15. Bf3 Nc4
{ White is gradually being pushedback } 16. Qc1 Rfc8
{ The pressure on the c file is mounting } 17. Re1
{ GuessI'll win a minor piece here } 17... Nxb2 18. Qxb2 Qxc3 19. Qxc3 Rxc3 20.
Re2 Rac8 { Again maintaining the pressure and forcing white on the back foot }
21. Ra2 e5 22. Rd2 { I can win a pawn here, but will consolidate first } 22...
e4 23. Be2 Rxa3 { I think this move deserves a ! } 24. Rb2 Ra1+ 25. Nf1
{ White ishelping black by putting his pieces into more passive squares } 25...
Ra4 26. Rd4 Ra1 27. g3 Ne8 28. Rd2 Bf6 29. Rb3 Rc1
{ Black is much stronger, therooks are causing chaos } 30. Bg4 R8xc2
{ Unless I have missed somethingwhite is playing into black's hands. The plan now is to simplify and putpressure on the b4 pawn which will fall eventually and leave black witha won end game }
31. Rxc2 Rxc2 32. Bd7 Nd6 33. Bg4 Rb2 34. Rxb2 Bxb2 35. h3 Bc3 36. h4 Bxb4
{ It is now a matter of time two passed pawns make fora won ending } 37. Nh2 a5
38. Bd1 a4 39. Kf1 a3 40. Bb3 Nc4 41. Ke2 Bc3 42. Kd1 b4 43. Ng4 Na5 44. Kc2 f5
45. Nh2 Be1 46. Nf1 Bxf2 47. Ba2 Kf8 48. h5 Ke7 49. Bb3 Kd6 50. Ba2 Ba6
{ This is all over bar the shouting } 51. Nd2 Bxe3 52. Nb3 Nxb3 53. Bxb3 Kc5
54. Kd1 Bc4 0-1
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2013.08.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "dougcosine"]
[Black "cdocco"]
[Result "*"]
[BlackElo "1393"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1438"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 { Queen's Pawn Gambit, Chigorin Defense. } 3. Nc3
{ ...JanowskiVariation. } 3... Nf6 4. Nf3 { That doesn't stop d5xc4. } 4...
dxc4 5. e4 Bg4 { I kindof like b5 here instead. } 6. Be3 e6 7. Bxc4
{ Long time coming. } 7... Bb4 8. O-O { Castling gives black Pe4. Maybe Qc2? }
8... Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nxe4 10. Rc1 O-O 11. Bf4 a6 12. Qd3 Bf5 13. Qe3 b5 14. Bd3
Qd5 15. Rfe1 Nxf2
{ ? There isnothing free about that pawn, provided KxN. Otherwise black gets white'sbishop. Or, better yet, BxB. QxB, KxN. Cannot use the queen, or Bf4is undefended. White also must watch out for Nd3, which forks the rooks. Only the queen is protecting it. }
16. Bxf5 { :) } 16... Qxf5 17. Kxf2 { I am quitethe seer. } 17... a5 { BxPc7? }
18. Bxc7 b4 19. c4 a4 20. Rb1 Qc2+ 21. Qe2 Qc3 22. Be5
{ Mm, I think I like Bd6 better. Black moves the rook, Pd5 pushes theknight culminating with BxPb4. }
22... f6 23. Bd6 Rfd8 { This leaves Pe6+ undefended. } 24. c5 Nxd4 25. Nxd4
Qxd4+ 26. Qe3 Qxe3+ 27. Rxe3 b3 28. axb3 a3 29. Ra1 a2
{ White can focus two rooks on this pawn and take it. Black should developsomething else, such as protecting e6. }
30. Rxe6 { Too late. } 30... Kf7 31. Re2 Ra3 32. b4 Rb3 33. Rexa2 Rxb4 34. Ra7+
Kg6 35. c6
{ The bishop is lost. BxB, Pc7, Rc6 (or Rc4), white loses the pawn too. } 35...
Rxd6 36. Rc1 { ...orthat. } 36... Rd8
{ I like Rb8 better, which locks down white's c rook. } 37. c7 Rc8 38. Ke3 Kf7
39. Rd1 Rc4 40. Rd7+ Ke6 41. Rxg7 h5 42. Ra6+ Kf5 43. Ra5+ Ke6 44. Rxh5 R8xc7
45. Rg6 Ra7 46. Rhh6 Ra3+ 47. Kd2 Rf4 48. Rg3
{ HereRxR, PxR, Rf2+ gives back another pawn, tying up the game. } 48... Rf2+
{ Whoa! Nothing is defending Ra3! } 49. Ke1 Rb2
{ The proper move here would havebeen RxR or Rf2a2. RxR would help black protect its remaining pawn. }
50. Rxa3 Ke5 { Pg2 was a free pawn, why move the king? } 51. Ra4
{ Ok, what doeswhite have against Pg2? I mean, Ra6 at least picks up black's last pawn. }
51... Rxg2 *
|
[Event "OTB Tournament Game 4"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "12/6/19"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Carl"]
[Black "Joe"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "50/50"]
{ So, we picked up from where we left off. I was wondering who I'd be upagainst and thought that it would be Master Nathan since Jack said thatI'd have to play against him, next time. But, he was in the middle ofa game, so I was against Carl and because I was white last time, I hadto be black this time. It was an interesting game, but I went wrong bythinking that Carl missed the overall picture and didn't see the entireboard. As I thought that I had a mate but overlooked one move that sealedmy fate. }
1. e4
{ Carl changes openings, but I'm glad he played this, asI was answer with the Sicilian. }
1... c5 2. c4 { He opts for the closed variation. } 2... d6
{ But, I continue with my usual. } 3. Qa4+
{ But, I was surprised to seeCarl throw in the check this early. } 3... Bd7
{ So, I go right on the offenseto punish Carl for bringing out his Q too early before developing. }
4. Qb3 { And, not surprisingly, he goes after my b7 pawn and Ra8. } 4... Bc6
{ I consideredgiving that pawn up with 4...Nc6 as after 5.Qxb7, I could go after hisQ again with 5...Rb8 I studied a similar variation with GM Susan Polgar,but in that case, she was reviewing how you'd trap one of white's R orQ. But, that wasn't applicable here, and I also played this to attackhis e4 pawn. }
5. Nc3 { Meanwhile, Carl starts developing. } 5... Nf6
{ And, I continue,as well. } 6. d3
{ Opening up a line for his Bc1. But, it takes him longerto develop it then anticipated. }
6... g6
{ In the meantime, I decide to fianchettosince I like a nice long diagonal for my B. }
7. g3
{ As does Carl. Ofcourse, we don't copy each other moves, which is ill advised, but we'rethinking along the same lines which is why I complete my fianchetto onmy next move. }
7... Bg7 8. Bg2 { As does Carl. } 8... Nbd7
{ Completing my development,and what I kept in mind is that I can't play 8...Nc6 for the obvious reason,and I wasn't going to leave my N on the rim with 8...Na6. Carl also hasthe same idea since he'll play it, on his next move. }
9. Nge2 Ne5
{ WhatI mentioned about what I couldn't do with the N and what I wasn't goingto do is why I played this. My attitude was that if I can't play 8...Nc6,then I'd play 8...Nbd7 with the idea of getting my N to a stronger outpost. In fact, this centralizes my N since it's in the center. So, I was confidenthere as I felt that I had a space advantage with more space in the center. Not only that, but this attacks d3 which I kept in mind. }
10. Qc2 { Notsurprisingly, Carl protects. } 10... O-O
{ Which is when I castle, as does Carl,on his next move. The thing to remember is that I like to castle early,but I delayed it a couple of moves to get my N right in the center. }
11. O-O Qd7 { Planning to attack his Q. } 12. Nd5
{ I was wondering what to doand almost refused to exchange here. But, I felt that his Nd5 was moreactive and mobile then my Nf6 since the N is right in front of the B andrestricted in movement. In fact, besides undeveloping, the squares I canplace my N are on g4 or h5, where white would take advantage of the factthat it's on the rim and would attack with h3. So, under that ground Ifelt that exchanging was the way to go here because I'm a little worriedabout what he'll try to do with his Nd5. }
12... Nxd5 13. exd5 Ba4
{ And, that'swhen I go after his Q. Carl's next move was to be expected. } 14.
b3 Qf5
{ ?? Keeping in mind that d3 is pinned. But, this move shouldn't have evencome into consideration. My thinking was that if 15.bxa4 I could get apawn with 15...Nxd3 which also threatens a discovered attack on his Q. But, since it would be with my Q, he could just exchange be a piece forpawn up with a strong advantage for white. }
15. Rd1
{ Having Tunnel Visionand playing too fast, Carl was worried about the pawn and played this. Best would've been, as noted a move back, 15.bxa4!. By playing this,I can and will retreat. }
15... Bd7 16. Bb2
{ Completing his development. But,I prepare to exchange by throwing in a check. I normally wouldn't, butthe idea behind playing my next is that after we exchange, his Ne2 willbe half pinned. }
16... Nf3+ 17. Bxf3 Qxf3 18. Bxg7
{ I was wondering what to dohere. I thought about recapturing which I should've done. }
18... Bh3
{ ?? But,this is where I thought that Carl didn't see everything that was happeningthe board, the overall picture. So, I decided to swarm in with my B whichis very similar to how bhidragon did things in our last game. I madea similar mistake against Perry where I thought it was mate but missedone move that costed me the Q. As now, Carl almost overlooked his nextmove, and when he plays it, I'll be a piece down without compensation. }
19. Nf4 Kxg7 { Having said that, I take his B. } 20. Nxh3
{ I was not surprisedto see him take my B. } 20... Qg4
{ But, I still try swarm in by going after hisN. } 21. Nf4 e5
{ And, I continue with the attack and prepare for his en-pessantcapture. } 22.
dxe6 fxe6 23. Re1 { Going after my pawn. } 23... e5
{ Which I defend,but best was 23...Rxf4 winning back a piece. Of course, I overlooked thathis g3 pawn was still pinned. But, this is the losing blunder, and ifthis were online chess, I would've kept in mind that the pawn was pinned. Had I played that, I'd only be down a pawn, but I'd probably be lost anywaysince Carl had a lot more time then me. So, I probably would've lost ontime, but by playing this, all hope is gone for me. }
24. Nd5 Rf3 { Stilltrying to swarm in. } 25. Re4 Qh3
{ I also considered 25...Qf5 threateningto win the f2 pawn. But, I knew that Carl would've stopped it with 26.Rf1. }
26. Qe2 { Nonetheless, he's going after my R. } 26... Raf8
{ Which is why I decideto double up since f2 is attacked, and his next move was to be expected. }
27. Rf1 g5
{ That's why I play this. I'm thinking that if I can't use justmy Q or the R's, I might as well have help with my pawns. }
28. Ne3
{ I wassurprised to see this move. But, nothing stops my next move for the reasonthat I mentioned earlier. }
28... h5 29. Ng2
{ I was surprised to see him playthis, but it allows me to come up with my g pawn, whereas before, he would'vetaken it with his N. }
29... g4 30. Re3 { Threatening to exchange. } 30... Kg6
{ ?? I don'tdo it right away since I know how powerful the monarch is in the endgame. But, this about to cost me a R for N, on top of, what I had already lost. }
31. Nh4+ Kg5
{ That's why I continue moving up rather then moving down,as 31...Kg7 also came into consideration. }
32. Nxf3+ gxf3
{ I'm just notquite ready to give up yet. But, we're getting very close. } 33.
Rxf3 { He'salso threatening to liquidate my Rf8. } 33... Qg4
{ That's why I decided to pinhis R. In fact, I didn't think that white had a good move here. }
34. Qe3+
{ But, I was wrong. And, this is where I resigned as he's about to wina free R. The only way I can stop would be by giving up my Q for R. Notonly that, but I've only got 12 minutes left against his 44. So, there'sno hope left. Even if Carl doesn't promote or have a mate, he would certainly,win on time, to say the least. When this game ended, after telling himthat I lost, Jack said, 'Now things are becoming interesting'. And, hewas alluding to the tournament. But, I don't know how interesting dueto a couple of oversights and by moving a little too quickly since I overlookedthe pin and was overly confident about a mating sequence that wasn't there. Even that, is a sign of moving too fast. }
1-0
|
[Event "Friendly Game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2012.08.16"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Jad"]
[Black "Luiza"]
[Result "1-0"]
{ Friendly game. Annotated mainly to analyze the final stage of the game.I was not sure whether my 22nd move was a forced checkmate (and, as itturns out, it wasn't). }
1. e4 Nf6 { Alekhine's Defense } 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 dxe4 4. Qe2
{ Mistake: 4. Qe2 Qxd4 } 4... Bf5 { Better: 4... Qxd4 } 5. Be3 Bg4 6. f3 exf3
7. Nxf3 Nc6 8. O-O-O e6 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Bg6 11. Qb5 Bd6
{ Mistake:11... Bd6 12. Qxb7 and Black has to move the Knight on c6. Better: 11...Rb8 }
12. Qxb7 O-O { Mistake: 12... O-O 13. Qxc6 } 13. Qxc6 Ne4
{ Mistake:13... Ne4 14. Nxe4 } 14. Nxe4
{ Now I'm up two Knights, and controlling thecenter. } 14... Be7
{ Did not understand the point of this move. } 15. Bd3 f5
{ Mistake:15... f5 16. Qxe6 } 16. Qxe6+ Kh8 17. Neg5
{ Plan: threaten a fork with Nf7+,thus exerting pressure and attacking Black's kingside. Might require exchangeof light-squared bishops. }
17... f4 { Blunder: 17... f4 18. Bxg6 Qb8 19. Nf7+Kg8 20. Bxf4 } 18. Bxg6 fxe3
{ Blunder: 18... fxe3 19. Nf7+ Rxf7 20. Qxf7 } 19. Nf7+ Kg8
{ Blunder: 19... Kg8 20. Nxd8+ and the rest of the game follows.Black should have exchanged the Rook for the Knight and saved the Queen. }
20. Nxd8+ Kh8 21. Nf7+ Kg8 22. Bxh7+
{ Risky move, I was not sure whetherit had played out correctly in my head. }
22... Kxh7 23. N3g5+ Kg8
{ Only move.The alternative 25... Bxg5 leads to 26. Nxg5+ Kh8 27. Qg6 followed by 28.Qh7# }
24. Qg6 Rae8
{ Blunder: 24... Rae8 25. Qh7#. Moving the Rook fromf8: also a bad move: 25. Qh7+ Kf8 26. Qh8#. Best (only) move: 24... Bxg525. Nxg5, then 25... Re8 or 25... Rd8 (all other moves either lose thegame with 26. Qh7#, or lose a Rook with 26. Qh7+ Kg8 27. Qh8+) }
25. Qh7# 1-0
|
[Event "Yet More Traxler/Wilkes Barre Variation"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "Me"]
[Black "Me again"]
[Result "*"]
[BlackElo "same"]
[WhiteElo "1300-ish"]
{ I am still trying to figure out how this opening could possibly benefitblack. Working off some documents kindly provided by the Blake. Thankya. }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7. Kg1
Qh4 8. g3 Nxg3
{ Now I see it. I thought about going Qh4 before, butI didn't think of the knight attack here. }
9. hxg3 Qxg3+ 10. Kf1 Rf8 11. Rg1 Qf4+ { Yeah this is nice! } 12. Qf3
{ nuntar (1566) on 28-Feb-09: 12.Qf3?? Qxc4 ?? Black should just take the queen, and White should of coursenot have put it in danger. ... hercules_isadore (1316) on 28-Feb-09: D'oh!yer right...how embarrassing for some reason I thought she was protectedthere... }
12... Qxc4+ 13. d3 Qxc2 14. Qe2 Qxc1+ 15. Qe1 Rxf7+ 16. Kg2 Qc2+ 17. Kh1
{ Ho boy! } 17... Rf2 18. Nd2 Qxd2 19. Qxd2 Rxd2 20. Rae1 g6 21. Rb1 Rxd3 22.
Rbf1 Rd2 23. Rb1 Nb4 24. a3 Nd3 25. b4 Ra2 26. Rb3 Nf4 27. Re1 d6 28. Ree3 Be6
29. Rbd3 { ruachessnut2 (1505) on 28-Feb-09: 29...Nxd3 take the rook! } 29...
Bc4 30. Rd1 a5 31. bxa5 Rxa5 32. Rb1 R5xa3 33. Re4
{ ruachessnut2 (1505)on 28-Feb-09: 33...Bd4 pins & wins the rook! If 34. Re1 Ra4 winning therook! Or 34. Rb4 Re3 winning the rook! ... Very nice! Thanks! }
33... Ra1 34. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 35. Kh2 Bf1 36. Rb4 Ra2+ 37. Kg1 Bg2 38. Rc4 c6 39.
Rb4 b5 40. Kh2
{ ruachessnut2 (1505) on 28-Feb-09: 40...c5 forcing the rook to a lightsquare. ... And then the bishop moves putting the king in check and takesthe rook on the next turn! Brilliant! Wish I had thought of that. }
40... Bd5+ 41. Kg3 Rg2+ 42. Kh4 g5# { Whoo! That's more like it! } *
|
[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2013.08.31"]
[Round "-"]
[White "hiredgun112"]
[Black "mikejm"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1304"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "697"]
1. Nc3
{ This is my first annotated game please be patient with this EXTREMEROOKIE!I opened Nc3.The reason i did this because i am trying to developmy offense and most 'advice' books i have been reading say you need todevelope pieces to control middle. }
1... e6 { Here i thought the Lady was aboutto join the party. } 2. b3
{ b3 this move was my beginning attempt to castle. } 2... d5 3. d4
{ d4 my thinking was this.To Quote a famous chess player a pawnwho gets by,is a criminal who should be in handcuffs. }
3... Bb4
{ If you noticeas the b4 move is made by my opponent i believe at this point my opponentis probing with pawns in middle of board. }
4. Bd2
{ I move bishop to d2to back up my knight.I knew i was going to lose my knight. }
4... Nc6 5. e3 { Herei was trying to develop my right side. } 5... Nf6
{ Here my opponent is gainingcontrol of middle. } 6. Nf3
{ I bring my cowboy on right into play to meetin middle of street. } 6... h6
{ here he comes on right } 7. g3 { Still developingright } 7... Bxc3
{ Here is where it all goes down hill for me.I lose my knight. } 8. Bxc3
{ I take out his bishop.I was thinking of 'hooking' around on myleft } 8...
Ne4 9. Qd3
{ I bring my lady in play hopefully backing up his knight,thiswas a bonehead rookie move on my part.I forgot about pawn at d5.This wasa wasted move for me. }
9... Qf6 { His lady coming on down to dance } 10. Bh3
{ Imove my bishop here thinking of castling.To little to late.Also here ishould have noticed i getting boxed in }
10... Qxf3 { Beginning of final painfulend. } 11. Qf1
{ I bring lady down to backup king hoping to push back } 11... Nxc3 12. Qg2
{ Foolishly i move lady here to push back.This was a quick nonthoughtoutmove. }
12... Qe2#
{ And here the hiredgun goes down.Lack of developing my royalcourt as well as weak placement of pawns along with weak foresight costme this game.I did learn alot in game }
0-1
|
[Event "Challenge from 1zeno"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "01-Dec-08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "gmkonig"]
[Black "1zeno"]
[Result "*"]
[BlackElo "1301"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
1. e4 e5 2. f4
{ The Kings Gambit, offering the sacrifice of a pawn forrapid development of pieces. }
2... d6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Nh6 5. c3 a6 6. a4 Bd7 7. O-O Qf6
{ Courting danger by putting the queen in line with the whiterook. Tactics based on this possibility are behind the next few moves. }
8. fxe5 dxe5 9. d4 Bd6 10. Nxe5
{ Winning a pawn, with the Black king stillin the centre . } 10... Qh4 11. Nf3
{ Now if 11... Qxe4 12. Re1 pinning the queen } 11... Qh5 12. Qe1
{ Maybe 12. e5 was an even better option here. I think I wantedto avoid queen exchanges with it still on d1. }
12... O-O-O 13. e5 Rhe8
{ Goodmove, now both black rooks dominate the open central files. } 14. b4
{ Goingfor an attack on the queenside } 14... f6 15. e6 Kb8
{ Avoiding 16. exd7 with check } 16. d5 Ne5
{ Now if 17. exd7 Nxf3 winning the white queen. } 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. Bf4 Bxf4
19. Rxf4
{ Black could have taken the pawn now with 19...Bxe6and if 20. dxe6 Rd1 pins the white queen, nasty! }
19... Ng4 { Heading to e5, agood square for the knight. } 20. h3 Ne5 21. Be2
Qg5 22. Qh4 Qxh4 23. Rxh4 Bc8
{ Finally the bishop is safe, having been in the same spot since move6. } 24.
c4 h6 25. Nc3 Ng6 { A mistake allowing the kingside to be destroyed. } 26. Rg4
Ne5 27. Rxg7 Rg8 28. Rxg8 Rxg8 29. Kh2 b6 30. Rf1 Ng6 31. Rxf6 Nh4 32. g4 Rg5
33. Kg3 Ng6 34. Ne4 Re5 35. Bf3 Ne7 36. Kf4 Nxd5+ 37. Kxe5 Nxf6 38. Nxf6 Bxe6
39. Kxe6 Kc8 40. Bc6 Kb8 41. Kd7 a5 42. b5 h5 43. gxh5 *
|
[Event "Instructive endgame"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2022.08.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "crux1"]
[Black "captain_shannon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "1848"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1820"]
{ Like many players, I am not good at endgames. In this one, I thought Ihad played it well, though felt I ought to have been able to win. Lookingat the analysis gave me a rude awakening; both sides missed chances towin, so it's worth a look... }
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
{ Bishop's Opening, whichcan easily transpose into a rather staid Italian, as this one does. }
2... Nf6 { Obvious response. } 3. Nc3 Nc6
{ I guess 3...Nxe4 is playable and if 4.Nxe4d5 but it leads to all manner of tactical complexities and is probablywhat a Bishop's opening player would like, so I am happy to go for a verysolid, if dull position... }
4. Nf3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. h3
{ Stopping the pin.I probably reached this type of position many many times when I was about13! }
6... O-O 7. a3
{ White is being a tiny bit passive here, with those 'littleears'. But I'm not exactly pushing the boat out myself. }
7... a5
{ Preventing8.b4 and giving the Bishop a square on a7, a common theme in this typeof opening. }
8. Nd5
{ White suddenly leaps into my half, leaving that e-pawnundefended. Tactical melee or not, I can't let that pass... }
8... Nxe4 9. d3 Ng3
{ Planning to return to f5. I think this move took us out of the database. }
10. Re1
{ White could probably have gained a tempo with 10.Bg5 Qd7 beforeplaying this, which is why the analysis has it as inaccurate. }
10... Nf5
{ Sincemy Knight was safe for the moment on g6 I could have developed my otherBishop to e6 here, but it felt to me as though the Knight was rather outon a limb, so I retreated. }
11. Be3
{ 11.Bg5 Qd7 (blocking in the light-squaredBishop) was still an option here }
11... Be6
{ Instead of the (perhaps) more forceful11...Ncd4 I get the Bishop out. } 12.
Bxc5
{ White exchanges, leaving mewith doubled pawns. But I haven't done badly out of the opening. }
12... dxc5 13. Nc3 Bxc4 { I do the same... } 14. dxc4 Re8
{ A Queen exchange by Whitewould have left my e-pawn up for grabs. } 15. Nd5
{ That Knight is hoppingback and forth into my half. } 15... Nfd4
{ I do the same, but this is pointless,since 16.c3 will drive it away. It would have been better going to d6,attacking White's c-pawn. }
16. c3 Nxf3+
{ The idea being exchange when youare ahead. And it takes the pressure off my e-pawn. But it's only a pawnI am ahead, and I have rather dissipated what initiative I had, and Whiteis looking good despite his pawn deficit. }
17. Qxf3 f6 { Adding to the e-pawn'ssupport. } 18. Rad1 Qc8
{ Rather horrible move, I know, but I had ratherhanded White the initiative, and I don't want that central Knight revealingan attack on my Queen. }
19. Re3
{ Getting ready to double Rooks. I decideto remove that central Knight. } 19...
Ne7 20. Red3
{ White misses a tactic: 20.Nxe7Rxe7 21.Qd5+ winning the pawn on c5. Still, he has his Rooks doubled up... }
20... Ng6
{ And now I really don't want to remove the central Knight and openup the file for him. }
21. Qg3 { Guarding against Nh4. And now I blunder.... } 21... Qe6
{ Thinking to push the e-pawn? } 22. Nxc7
{ Ouch. Really, it should becurtains for me now. } 22... Qxc4
{ I will have a pawn at least. } 23. Nxe8 Rxe8 24. Rd8
{ White goes straight into exchange overdrive now he is ahead. } 24... Kf8 25.
Rxe8+
{ But he is over-eager; 25.Qf3, attacking the backward b-pawn,keeps up the pressure. }
25... Kxe8 26. Qd3
{ Indeed over-eager; still 26.Qf3 causesme more trouble. I am in trouble anyway, but offering exchange after exchangeis not always the best ploy. }
26... Qxd3 { In this case I pretty much have toexchange. } 27. Rxd3 Ke7
{ Bringing the KIng forward and guarding the d6square. } 28. Kf1
{ White has the same idea. But 28.c4 rather stops thatb-pawn from doing much. Again, routine King advances in the endgame arenot always best. I have an extra pawn, and a Knight has to be kept understrict observation . It's a tricky piece! }
28... Nf4
{ Getting into the centreand driving away the Rook. Ideally I want to get my Knight somewhere itcan be supported by pawns. }
29. Rd2
{ 29.Rg3 attacks another loose pawn,but I guess White wants to keep his Rook on the open file. }
29... Ne6 { Hopingto get to d4 if that c-pawn does advance. } 30. Ke2
{ The King heading outis now an object of attack. } 30... Nf4+ 31. Kf3
{ He has to defend the g-pawnand doesn't want to retreat. } 31... c4
{ I'm looking to post my Knight on d3,but 31...a4 prevents the advance of White's b-pawn and would have beenbetter played first. }
32. h4
{ A little bit of a wasted move, really. Whitecan actually move the Knight with 32.g3 and once it goes to d3 continue33.b3 (impossible had Black played a4 earlier) b4 34.bxc4 bxc4 35.Rd1,from where the Rook can gain the open b-file. }
32... Nd3 { I get to d4 prematurely,since the White b-pawn can still advance. }
33. Ke3
{ I wasn't sure whatWhite had in mind with this; if he's trying to penetrate with the Kingthe e4 square was free. }
33... f5
{ It was for this reason I played this, to keepout the King. But 33...a4 was still needed to stop the b-pawn advancing. }
34. f3
{ Clearly we are both foussed on that Knight, posted on d3; Whitewants to prevent 34...e4 and double protection. This gives me another biteat a4 }
34... Kd6
{ Instead I get my King into the centre. My Knight blocks theRook and White has clearly missed the idea of advancing the b-pawn. }
35. Rxd3+
{ Remarkable? This was obviously an intentional exchange. Maybe Whitethought it was the only way to open up the game and was prepared to handback the material gain for a better endgame position. But it isn't a betterendgame position at all! }
35... cxd3 36. Kxd3
{ So, finally, we reach a King andpawn endgame, one which I am sure strong players will recognise as easilywinnable for Black despite the equality in pawns. I have a pawn advantageon the K-side; White's is on the Q-side. How to start? I go wrong immediately... }
36... Kc5
{ Now the game is level; my aim is to limit the squares available tothe White King, when I should be limiting the advance of the White pawns- especially on that Q-side where he has the advantage. So, for the umpteenthtime....36...a4 keeps me on top. }
37. b4+
{ Instead, that obvious advanceleaves me outnumbered 2-1 on this side... }
37... axb4 38. axb4+ Kb5
{ Now, clearlyWhite has run out of advances on this side, so he switches sides... }
39. g4 g6
{ I'm banking on my pawn majority on this side to win the game forme. But my King cannot assist, so it's tricky. }
40. h5
{ Now, 40...fxg441.fxg4 gxh5 gxh5 at least leaves me with a passed pawn for White to worryabout. Not enought o win the game, but enough to distratct the White King. }
40... e4+
{ I looked at all permutations before playing this howler, which handsthe position to White after 41. fxe4 fxe4+ 42. Kd4 e3 43. Kxe3 Kc4 44.Kd2 Kb5 and it's that Q-side pawn majority that wins for him. }
41. fxe4 fxe4+ 42. Kxe4
{ Wrong, but understandable. There's a difference betwenwhat follows here and 42.Kd4 e3 43.Kxd3, namely that the White King canget to d2 to protect the c-pawn. }
42... Kc4
{ If White is over eager to capturepawns, so am I; I needed to exchange those pawns on the other side first,so that White could not play 43.h6. Every pawn advance is a little gain.Now,43. h6 b5 44. Ke5 Kxc3 45. Kf6 Kxb4 46. Kg7 Kc4 47. Kxh7 b4 48. Kg7b3 49. h7 b2 50. h8=Q b1=Q and White can pick off my pawn with chancesof a Queen exchange leaving him with a winning pawn. }
43. hxg6
{ But it'sanother error. Exchanging pawns to leave an equal number of pawns on oneside with a pawn majority on the other only works if the pawn majoritycan be maintained. Here, the c-pawn is a sitting duck. }
43... hxg6 44. Ke5
{ TheWhite King heads to my undefendable pawn, while I remove his, leaving uswith pawns that will Queen together and a drawn game. Or do I? }
44... b5
{ Ohwoe. I really thought it mattered not what I did first - remove the pawnor get my own pawn's advance started. Indeed, if the White King continuestowards my lone undefended pawn on g6 it doesn't matter. But what if Whitedecides the pawn on g6 is going nowhere and plays 45.Kd6. Now I am sunk:45. Kd6 g5 46. Kc6 Kxc3 47. Kxb5 Kd4 game over. }
45. Kf6 { Happily for me,White is also blind to this chance. } 45... Kxc3 46.
Kxg6 Kxb4 47. Kf6 Kc5 { Weboth have our pawns.... } 48. g5 b4 49. g6 b3 50. g7
b2
{ And they will Queenone after the other, so the game ends in a draw. Given the missed chanceson both sides, probably the fairest result! }
1/2-1/2
|
[Event "London, won by tactic!"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.03.15"]
[Round "-"]
[White "damalfi"]
[Black "homunculi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1656"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1705"]
1. d4
{ A short and tought game, in which my opponent probably thinks thathe has a strong attack, and in few moves gets in trouble. I like to win,but I won't like to be in his skin. }
1... Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. c3 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. g4 Nd5 7. Bg3 f5
{ I like his plan till far. When I took thispawn, I wasn't sure at all it was a good idea, and prepared myself to defend,trying to expell his white bishop from the strong position it will get. }
8. gxf5 Bxf5 9. Nbd2 Nf6 10. Nh4
{ Luckily, I found that the symmetric movefor him, Nh5, wouldn't be as good for him as for me. He, apparently, didn'tthought the same, and played it. }
10... Nh5 11. Nxf5 Rxf5 12. Bh4
{ Now, I spenta lot calculating his Rf4, and my Bg5. You see, it seems that f2 is weak,black has the open f column and two pieces into the attack, and easilythe queen can go to f8... nevertheless, the white position is not as weakas it seem, and there is no real danger, if I play with care. The trickis not to take away the bishop from the f2-h4 diagonal. His move wouldhave been g5!, to which I would have played e4... }
12... Qf8 13. Qb3+ { Oooopss... } 13... Kh8 14. e4
{ Maybe this one it is not necessary, but I admit I was temptinghim to... }
14... Rf4 15. Bg5 Rxf2 { Well, f2 seems very tasteful, but... } 16. Qxb7
{ Overloaded black queen... } 16... Nd7 17. Bxe7
{ Ok, black loses somethinghere, but... maybe it was early to resign. } 1-0
|
[Event "Chess game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "???"]
[Black "???"]
[Result "*"]
1. e4
{ This was a game I enjoyed playing on an iPhone app that I thoughtwas just too great and had to save it here for review. A little background: This was my 4th game against this particular opponent from Atlanta. Heplayed well and provided good competition each game, which is hard to findin some of the cell phone apps. I had won the first two games where weplayed traditional offensives and defenses. On the third game, my opponentstarted off the game playing only with his pawns and locked up the middleof the board and we each had control of different colored squares. Thisthrew me off since I haven't played this way much, and it cost me the game. What you'll see here is the 4th game, and he tried the same technique. This game ends with a beautiful mate combo. }
1... e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f6
{ HereI realized he was ready to lock up the middle, just like the previous game. }
4. Be2 { Developing, ready to castle, and preventing a pin on my knight. } 4...
Nd7 5. Nc3 c5 { An attack at my center. } 6. d5
{ I decide to play along withhis style and lock up the middle. } 6... b6
{ More pawns, more control of thedark squares for Black. } 7. O-O
{ I'm ready to play... } 7... g5
{ Pawn storm onmy position, or just another way to say he likes pawn defenses? I'll haveto find out... }
8. a4
{ Trying to open up the queenside, but more importantlyI'd like to be able to bring my knight or bishop to b5 without worry ofa pawn attack. }
8... a5 { B5 is now mine. } 9. Bb5 { Pinned knight } 9... Ke7
{ Blackunpins his knight, and decides to keep his king in the center of the lockedup board. }
10. Qe2
{ Developing and placing an attacker underneath Black'sking... always a good idea for when the board opens up. }
10... h5
{ Unusual playbased upon all the other pawn moves. I can only determine that a pawnstorm is coming to break up my defense. }
11. h3
{ I was reluctant to breakup my pawn defense, but wanted to defend against the pawn storm. }
11... h4 12. Nd1
{ I determined I'm going to need more support on the Kingside for theoncoming attack, and f5 looked like a good square. That's all I concentrateon for the next few moves. }
12... Bg7
{ Black must make a spot for his d7 knightto move to. It isn't doing much where it is. He's going to swing it overto my kingside to help with the attack. }
13. Ne3 Nf8 14. Nf5+
{ I'm on anice square with my knight, and its supported and free from pawn attack. Bonus: Black is in check. If Black eats it with his bishop, I'll beable to start opening up the middle, directly underneath his king. }
14... Bxf5 15. exf5 { And that's what happens. } 15... g4
{ Attack continues in order to chipaway at my defense. Black is much safer than I am. }
16. hxg4
{ I decideI'll open up the h-file and give up a pawn in order to be a little safer. }
16... h3 17. gxh3 Rxh3 { That's the pawn I gave up. } 18. Kg2
{ Black doesn't havemuch backup for this attack, so I feel safe here, even though my defenseis broken. }
18... Rh8
{ Black retreats after claiming a free pawn and is now upin material, has a safe king, and has a rook on an open file next to myking. Things can't be worse for me here, lol. After looking at this positionfor a long while, I knew I had to open up the middle of the board and getmy rooks into play. Black has a great advantage, but half his pieces aren'tin use. If I could open up the board a little bit and get my pieces intoplay faster than Black, I may have a chance. }
19. g5 { Attempting to openup the defense around Black's king. } 19... Nh7
{ Protecting the f6 square, butmore importantly, I think this move was terrible for black. What has happenedhere is that Black has closed off his control of the h-file... }
20. Rh1 { ...and I jumped on the opportunity to grab the h-file. } 20... Qc8
{ Black attacksmy pawn of f5. } 21. Qe4 { Support added. } 21... fxg5
{ Black decides to trade here,rather than let me eat and check. } 22. Nxg5 Ngf6
{ The knight finally comesinto play, but I thought recapturing with his other knight would have beenbetter as he would have been attacking my queen and rook at the same time. Also, moving the bishop down would have attacked my unprotected knight. }
23. Qf3 { I move away from the threat, but keep protection on my d5 pawn. }
23... Nxg5
{ Black chooses to trade knights and pushes forward with the attack,threatening my queen or a trade of rooks. In doing so, he has opened upthe h file for himself again. Black still has a superior position, sotrading pieces isn't too bad of an idea at this point. }
24. Bxg5
{ By tradingknights, Black ends up with his other knight pinned. Also note that Ihave now connected my two rooks. If Black decides to swap rooks, I'llend up with my other rook on the H-file. Trading rooks isn't really anoption for either of us right now. There is a lot of tension on the h-file,but whoever eats the other's rook first will lose control of it. }
24... Qb7
{ Blackchooses not to trade rooks on h1. Instead, Black brings the focus to thecenter of the board, attacking the d4 pawn, but this will only work afterhe unpins his knight. Another mistake here: The obvious skewer whichI play on the next move. It was so obvious I determined it to be bait,and a sacrifice of his rook, so I hesitated for a very long time beforeI made the move because I thought something may be fishy. I'll explainon the next move... }
25. Bc6
{ Here's the skewer. Here I thought Blackwas going to give up his rook, which isn't even in the game, so that hecan sneak his queen past the pawn line and into my sacred area. His nextmove would be to move his queen to a6, letting me eat the rook, and thenhis queen can slide right in. I decided that I may be able to toleratethis because I have enough defense at the moment to hold off the queen,so I accepted this position. }
25... Qa6 26. Bxa8
{ Here is where Black's queencan sneak in and do some damage, but Black is now down in material anddecides to try and keep the game equal as possible by taking my Bishop... }
26... Qxa8
{ Black now has a great diagonal, and my king is on it. Black's positionis actually pretty good here and was keeping me worried. I wanted to tryand swing my queen around thru the g and h files for an attack, but nowI'm stuck defending the d5 pawn unless I give it other support. I needmore pieces in play... }
27. Rae1
{ Purely positional, placing my rook underBlack's king. Here I started trying to find a way to sacrifice a pieceby eating on e5. Right now, I see this as my only way to Black's king. The positions of both sides here are starting to look more equal, andI'm able to breathe again. }
27... Rb8
{ I think that here is where Black blewit. He gives up control of the H-file again, and places his rook in aterrible spot. My only rationale for this is that he is trying to attackon my very weak side, probably ready to push the b5 pawn forward and openup that side of the board. }
28. Rh7
{ I pin yet another piece of Black's,so now I have 4 pieces in play against Black's rook and queen, who arenowhere near to defend his King. Things are looking great for me. }
28... Kf7
{ This move is almost forced, to prevent my rook from taking the bishop. Other option would have been to swing the rook back to g8, which wouldhave been better. I looked at this position for a very long time, playingout many scenarios in my head. I had a couple of great ideas. First,moving my e1 rook over to h1 would give me a powerful attack on the rightside of the board. My other idea was to get my queen around the cornerto join the attack, but any wrong move I made would allow Black's queento eat at d5 and put me in check. I also nearly played c4 in order toprevent that, but that may have lost me a tempo and allowed Black to swinghis rook back to the defense. I wanted to continue my attack while Black'sstrong pieces were away from the action. I could have also eaten the knightwith my bishop, saving my rook from an attack while chipping away at hisdefense, but then I saw the greatest combination that I've ever played. It is a mate in 9 moves. Can you see it? Here it is... }
29. Rxg7+ { Impossibleto resist, Black will take this rook. } 29... Kxg7 30.
Bh6+
{ A free bishop? Blackprobably thought I made a careless mistake. Impossible to resist. }
30... Kxh6
{ Now I'm down in material and any wrong move will let Black's queen comethru the middle and finish me off. I've just sucked Black's king againstthe side of the board so I must continue to pound on him. }
31. Rh1+ Kg7
{ Black may have been better off coming to g5 as that would have ended myforced move combination, but when I saw this position a few moves back,I thought the risk of that was really low and Black would not want to bringhis King closer in towards me, especially with my queen so close to him. }
32. Qg3+ Kf7 33. Qg6+ Ke7 34. Qg7+ Kd8 35. Rh8+
{ Game over. Black resignedhere. He can not prevent the mate even though he has more material. Thereis just no defense available for Black. Also note how effective my earlierpin on his knight was. The knight is still in the same spot it was. Thatpin essentially removed the knight from the game. Hope you enjoyed. }
*
|
[Event "What is wrong with my 9th move?"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "???"]
[Black "???"]
[Result "*"]
{ Hello readers!! Lately, I have been reading 'Winning chess, Openings'by Yasser Seirawan. It's a great book that I recommend to everyone havingtrouble with openings. Anyway, I was reading about the recommended defenseagainst the King Pawn Opening (Pirc defense) and the position in this gamecame up. Black played Nc6, but can anyone please tell me what is wrongwith what I played?? }
1. e4 { The game starts. e4. } 1... d6 { Pirc defense. } 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4.
Be2 { 4. Be2 variation. } 4... Bg7 5. h4 c5 { An interestingpawn sacrifice. }
6. dxc5 Qa5 7. Qd3 Qxc5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. h5
{ Here. This isthe position. Now, what is wrong with my next move. It doesn't com up oneither World or Gameknot DB, so please tell me. }
9... Nxe4 10. Qxe4 { Unlessthis is the bad move. But I don't think so. } 10...
Bxc3+ 11. Kf1 Bxb2
{ Blackis +2 up and about to win the a2 pawn. I see nothing wrong with this position.I hope someone can tell me what is wrong with the game I just played. Hopeyou enjoyed the game and enjoyed trying and possible succeeding in whatis wrong. Thanks for reading! }
*
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[Event "Old Indian Attack"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "NN"]
[Black "dmaestro"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1576"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1698"]
{ An example of how the Old Indian Defense is more dynamic than its reputation. }
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 e5
{ Black's bold attack on the center offersthe tempting opportunity to displace the Black King. Surprisingly, theresults are not bad for Black. While less experienced players might assume4 dxe5 gives White a big advantage, according to the DB, if White plays4 dxe5!?, the practical results actually favor Black, W 29%, B 34%, Draw35%. }
4. dxe5 dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Bg5 c6 { Part of Black's plan. } 7. Nf3 Nd7 8.
O-O-O Kc7 { Black's King is safe, for now. } 9. Bxf6
{ Doubledpawns but at the price of a DSB and more protection for e5. } 9...
gxf6 10. g3 { Increases the scope of White's LSB. } 10... Nc5
{ Black begins to provoke. } 11. b4
{ White drives away the N but weakens his pawn structure and enhancesthe scope of Black's bishops. This plan seems premature. }
11... Ne6 12. a3 a5
{ Here, 12...a5! demonstrates the surprising dynamism left in the position. }
13. Ne4 { Creates complications, but not necessarily favoring White. } 13...
axb4 14. axb4 Bxb4 15. Nxf6
{ So far, White's plan seems reasonable, the e5 pawnis under attack and White has a N on the 6th rank. White does not forseeBlack's 16th move. }
15... Ra1+ 16. Kc2 Nd4+ { 16 ...Nd4+! turns the tables. } 17. Nxd4 Rxd1 18.
Kxd1 exd4
{ The smoke has cleared, and Black has come outwell, with the bishop pair in an open position and slightly better developmentand chances on the Qside. }
19. Bg2 Be6 20. Be4
{ White tries to retain materialequality since the c4 pawn was not defendable. }
20... Bxc4 21. Nxh7 Ra8
{ Blackexploits the lead in development and bishop pair, even though the gameis still even materially in a near endgame White faces a strong attack. }
22. Ng5 Ra1+ 23. Kc2 Ra2+
{ The game is still even materially, but my higherrated opponent resigns. Can you see why? }
0-1
|
[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "10-May-07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "robertto"]
[Black "isthisrealifex"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1200"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1329"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Bf5 3. Nc3 c6 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. Ne5 Nbd7
{ Up to this pointthese are just standard opening moves. } 6. Nxd7 Qxd7 7. f3
e6 8. e4
{ thefirst real mistake of the game, black can now force the win of a pawn }
8... dxe4 9. Be5
{ another bad move by white, this allows black to furtherdevelop his pieces towards the center }
9... Nd5 10. fxe4
{ with this move blackcan go up a pawn and make whites pawns awkward } 10...
Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bxe4 12. Qe2 Bg6 13. g3
{ the only real problem black has is moving his king intosaftey } 13... f6 14.
Bf4 Bd6 15. Bh3 Bf7 16. O-O
{ white allows the trade ofbishops which should be avoided, because he is down material }
16... Bxf4 17. Rxf4 O-O-O
{ black finally moves his king to safety but has to survive onelast assult }
18. Rd1 Rhe8 19. d5 cxd5 20. c4 Qc6 21. cxd5 Rxd5 22. Bg2
{ black had already seen this move and saw that there was a defense forit with the inbetween move. }
22... Rxd1+ 23. Qxd1 Qc7 24. Rb4
{ here white hasdropped an entire rook and can resign with a clear concius but continuesto plot on in a hopeless situation }
24... Qc5+ 25. Rd4 e5 26. Qf3
{ white becomesthe victim of a relntless assult after this move } 26... Qxd4+
27. Kf1 Bc4+ 28. Ke1 Qg1+ 29. Kd2 Rd8+ 30. Kc3 Qd4+
{ white resigns here because there isno way to prevent the loss of his queen }
0-1
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[Event "Challenge from goldmedal20"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "10/15/2012"]
[Round "-"]
[White "goldmedal20"]
[Black "samples29"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1107"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "801"]
1. e4
{ It seems like I did not get into a groove in this game. I am whiteand samples79 }
1... e5 { same old opeaning } 2. Nf3 { clearing the way to castle } 2... Nc6
{ building his pieces } 3. Bc4 { ready to castle } 3... Nf6
{ really good buildup of his pieces so far. } 4. Bd3
{ why did move that piece back? } 4... d5
{ hasa good grip on the middle of the board . } 5. exd5
{ trying to get kingunprotected and wide open } 5... Qxd5
{ plan is starting to work } 6. O-O { castle } 6... Bg4
{ putting the heat on me } 7. Nh4 { got away } 7... Bxd1
{ had no chanceto save that piece } 8. Rxd1 { took bishop in return } 8... Qd4
{ i better movethat bishop } 9. Bf5 { safe } 9... Qxh4
{ black has a plan of some sorts } 10. Rf1 { protecting the king. } 10... Nd4
{ black's king is getting wide open and lessprotection } 11. c3
{ sees a opeaning } 11... Nc2 { maybe not } 12. Bxc2 { wow } 12... Ne4
{ black is moving in } 13. d3 { no you are not } 13... Nf6 { moves back } 14.
Ba4+ { check. } 14... Qxa4 { that was not meant to be that check } 15. b3
{ black ismoving that queen a lot } 15... Qg4
{ A question could i delcare a draw at thispoint with the 3 move rule? black moving that queen across the row manytimes. Could someone tell me the rules of a draw? }
16. d4 { black kinghas not castle yet } 16... Qh4
{ been thinking about delcrare a draw if the queenkeeps this up } 17. dxe5
{ pawn taken } 17... Bc5 { bishop ready for battle } 18. exf6 { takes knight. }
18... gxf6 { pawn taken } 19. a3
{ i should moved the knightbishop and rook long tine ago } 19... Rd8
{ brings back up } 20. b4 { moves pawn } 20... Bb6 { black moves back } 21. Be3
{ got bishop out of home base } 21... Bxe3 { badmove } 22. fxe3
{ but i got the bishop } 22... Rd3 { I know I will lose this one } 23. Ra2
{ moves rook } 23... Rd5 { moves back } 24. c4 { pawn } 24... Rh5 { safe } 25.
c5 { pawn } 25... Qxh2+ { check } 26. Kf2 { safe } 26... Rf5+ { check } 27. Ke1
{ safe } 27... Qg3+ { check } 28. Raf2 { more protection } 28... Rd5
{ rook moves I should of moved my knight b 1to c3. would that be a better move? }
29. e4 { bad move } 29... Rd3 { I am deadmeat } 30. Ke2 { bad move } 30... Qe3#
{ checkmate } 0-1
|
[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2014.04.30"]
[Round "-"]
[White "ed_norton"]
[Black "mr_gold"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1355"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1300"]
1. e4 e5 { Thinking bout the Steinitz game darknite posted. } 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
h6
{ Development. center control. focus on f7. Blacks h6 feels prematureto me. }
4. d4 exd4
{ The pawn at d4 isn't going anywhere immediately.White will castle and then be free to mingle about. }
5. O-O Bc5 6. b4
{ Thisposition is different than the Steinitz game where Black has a pawn one4. White plays b4 anyway sacrificing a second pawn for freedom on thedance floor. }
6... Nxb4 7. c3 dxc3 8. Nxc3
{ White down -2, but with good mobilityavailable for all minor pieces. Castled and have e1 open for the rook,queen poised on d file. Blacks developed pieces aren't under any immediatethreat per se, but at the same time they do not have good squares to moveonto. }
8... Qe7
{ 8. Qe7? Not what I expected and not generally thought to besound practice. I heard somewhere...'try not to place your queen in frontof your king....'______ Well, I was anticipating Nf6 or d6. }
9. Re1 d6 10. Nd5
{ Naturally, the rook Whites rook tucks in on the e file exertingpressure on Blacks queen. White follows 9....d6 ( which I think is a littlelate) with 10. Nd5! And black has to be careful now with the threat ofNc3+! Forks are good, right? At this point black decides to log out andtake a break. }
10... Qd7 { Stymies the fork, but black has little mobility. } 11. e5 Kd8
{ The e Pawn probes onward and Blacks King seeks safety. } 12. Ba3
{ White wants to eliminate the Black knight from it's defensive postand remove the option of any future thoughts on playing Nc2. }
12... Nxd5 13. Bxc5 Nf4
{ Here it becomes clear that Black is not interesting in trading.Perhaps, 13....dxBc4 and create space for movement. Doesn't matter now. }
14. exd6 c6
{ Black decides belatedly for space, but only improves Whitesdark squared bishop. }
15. Ne5 Qf5
{ Driving the queen and setting up 16.Nxf7+!. White has succeeded in gaining control of f7 and the central files. }
16. Nxf7+ Kd7 { The only refuge. } 17. Qd4 Rh7
{ The knight on f7 is placedtoo well to bother picking off the rook on h7. The queen moves forwardto get a better angle. !7.... Rh7 accomplishes nothing. }
18. Re7+ Nxe7 { Trading down rook to knight, but gaining the e7 square. } 19.
dxe7+ Ke8 20. Qd8#
{ Not exactly a classic for the ages, but White follows thru onthe basics. }
1-0
|
[Event "Succesfully failed Max Lange Attack"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2008.11.17"]
[Round "-"]
[White "moorsoes"]
[Black "steve2"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1719"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1840"]
1. e4
{ This is an annotation of my favourite opening, the 'Max Lange Attack'.It's out of fashion nowadays, because there are several simple moves againstit that put White in a crappy position. With some practice, even thosesituations are playable and can lead to victory. This is an example thatproves my point. }
1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. O-O
{ Up untilthis point all is going according to the book. Obviously this is also thepoint where moves like 5....d6 or even 5....h6 can mess up your brightidea. }
5... d5
{ To continue the infamous Max Lange Attack, black is supposedto play 5....Bd5 to defend his pawn, keep his material advantage and togive pressure on f2. This would continue: 5....Bd5, 6. e5 - d5 7. exf6- dxc4 }
6. exd5
{ Having failed in my beloved Max Lange Attack I decideto sacrifice my Knight to draw out Black's King after taking the pawn...see ahead. }
6... Nxd5 7. Ng5 Be7 8. Nxf7
{ Black's king will be totally exposedwith his Knight on d5 blocking a threatening Bishop. }
8... Kxf7 9. Qf3+ { Theobvious move with several options for black to respond }
9... Ke6 { And therehe goes! } 10. Nc3
{ (In retrospect) another beautiful sacrifice to win timeto get the a1 Castle out and to get rid of the blocking d4 pawn. }
10... dxc3 11. Re1+
{ From here Black's moves are pretty much forced, it's MaterialAdvantage Vs. Position and it keeps getting worse. }
11... Ne5 12. Bf4 Bf6 13. Bxe5 Bxe5 14. Rxe5+
{ Here goes the next sacrifice to keep getting rid ofpieces blocking the centre. Although the idea was to win Black's Queenby checking the King with a Castle, the possibility of a checkmate slowycreeps in. }
14... Kxe5 15. Re1+ Kd4
{ Black still has little choice in the matteris forced to keep running around with his King. }
16. Bxd5 cxb2 17. Re4+
{ By letting Black take the Bishop, the final sacrifice, it's a free runby simply forcing the King all the way to the a-line moving the Queen andCastle step by step. }
17... Kxd5 18. Qd3+ Kc6 19. Rc4+
{ Here ends this funnyand interesting 'failure' of the Max Lange Attack! } 1-0
|
[Event "On edge."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.02.05"]
[Round "-"]
[White "yoshark"]
[Black "ryckman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1590"]
[TimeControl "3d+1d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1534"]
1. e4
{ This is a very crazy game and one I've learned quite a bit fromlooking at. Each side seem to be on a knifes edge toward the middle andI'm still not sure black didn't have something brilliant though I haven'tfound anything. Lets start with the usual e4. }
1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6
{ The Najdorf Sicilian an opening I've seen many timesin my chess career seeing as I play the open Sicilian quite a bit. HereI play a move that I'm never quite sure is sound, but looks playable enough. }
6. f4
{ black still has the option of e5 seeing as neither black nor whitewants to exchange on e5 right away. }
6... e5 7. Nf3
{ The point of the earlyf5 being I want to strike in the center and put pressure on the e5 pointblack will tend to try to undermine the e4 point, and control the d5 square. }
7... Nbd7 8. Bc4 Be7 9. Nd5
{ ?! not sure I like this move so much any more looksto lose a pawn on e4 but white may be able to win it back. }
9... Nxe4 10. Qe2
{ Threating the knight. Black has a few options here the best I feel isto play Ndf6 then an exchange would occur Nxf6 Nxf6 fxe5 dxe5 Nxe5 O-OO-O Black would seem to have initiative and Bf6 would take control of thedark square diagonal. }
10... Nef6 11. fxe5 dxe5 12. Nxe5
{ The position I sawa few moves ago white has a very strong position with one big flaw hisking is rather airy. }
12... O-O 13. O-O Bc5+
{ Planing to try to win the knightwith Re8 though I have plans for that. } 14.
Kh1 Re8
{ ? this is a mistakelooks like a perfectly good move though doesn't it. } 15.
Nxf6+ { ! } 15... gxf6
{ Nxf6 results in a similar position, though possibly slightly better afterBxf7+ Kf8 Bxe8 Qxe8 and white must deal with the pin on the white knight. }
16. Bxf7+ Kh8
{ Kf8 Bh6+ Ke7 Bxe8 and white is not bad off. Kg7 Qg4+Kh8 Bh6 leads to a good game for white. }
17. Ng6+ { The key move allowingwhite to complete the idea. } 17... hxg6 18.
Qxe8+
{ Gaining the exchange. Alsopossible was Bxe8 but I figure why not trade down since I have the chance. }
18... Qxe8 19. Bxe8 Kg7 20. Bd2 { ?? traps the bishop on e8 better is Bxd7. }
20... Ne5 21. Bc3 Bf5
{ ? Black allows white to give back the exchange leaving whiteokay positionally. }
22. Rxf5 gxf5 23. Bh5 { Still up a pawn. } 23... Ng4
{ The bishopmust be traded for Rh8 would not be very comfortable for white. }
24. Bxg4 fxg4 25. Re1
{ ? this positional error could have ended white for good blackhas the very strong g3!! and forces h3 for hxg3 Rh8# and h3 black finishesup with Rd8 and now the rook is locked down as well. }
25... Rd8 26. g3
{ Everyso happy to get the right move out. White had nothing to fear from g3Re8 Re1. }
26... Rh8 27. Kg2 Kg6 28. Re6
{ gaining an attacking position this allowswhite to free up his king from the defense of the h2 pawn. }
28... Rf8 29. h3 Kf5
{ a move I didn't see though forcing the white rook back. } 30. Re2 gxh3+ 31.
Kxh3 Bd6
{ Attacking the g3 pawn but opens up the white rook to keepthe black rook in to passivity. }
32. Rf2+ Ke6 33. g4 { gets the pawn outof the bishops scope. } 33... Rh8+ 34.
Kg2 Be5
{ not sure this is best for blackseeing as all trades would seem to favor white. }
35. Bxe5 fxe5 36. Re2
{ restraining the pawn and the black king for the moment. } 36... Re8 37. c4
{ keepsthe black king out of the position I plan to play b3 and move my king tothe e4 square trying to gain some kind of initiative. }
37... b5
{ ? this positionalerror allows with to use his rook to defend every pawn at once with littleworry. cxb5 axb5 a3 and the white rook can come to b4 keeping the rainson black. Not to mention it trades down pawns. }
38. cxb5 axb5 39. a3 Ra8 40. Kf3 { moving the king closer to e5 pawn. } 40...
Ra4 { ? white gains a tempowith Re4. } 41. Re4 Kd5
{ final trades black cannot win defend both weaknesses. } 42. Rxa4 bxa4 43. Ke3
{ I play this move to force black to decide on Kc4or Ke6 both are losing. }
43... Ke6 44. Ke4 { Black Resigns. } 1-0
|
[Event "Chess game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "August 18 2018"]
[Round "-"]
[White "eric2jin"]
[Black "uliseenperez"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "Black"]
[TimeControl "5+10 blitz"]
[WhiteElo "White"]
{ This is a blitz game! } 1. e4 { Hoping for Italian } 1... c5
{ Getting Sicilian! } 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 h6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 a6 7.
Be3 e5 8. Nf3 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Bg6 11. Qd3 Be7 12. O-O-O Nc6 13. Nd5 Nxe4
14. Bb6 Qd7 15. Nc7+ Kf8 16. Nxa8 Nxf2 { ! Double attacking queen } 17. Qf1
Nxh1 18. Qxh1 Be4 19. Bd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5 Nb4 21. Nxe5 { ! } 21... Qe6 22. Nc7
Qc8 23. Qf1 { Threatening mate } 23... dxe5 { Mate failed } 24. Rxe5
{ Dead even } 24... Bf6 25. Re8+ { 9 pts for 8 pts } 25... Qxe8 26. Nxe8 Kxe8
27. Qe1+ { Fork! } 27... Kd7 28. Qxb4 Re8 29. Qa4+ Kc8 { ?? } 30. Qxe8+ Bd8 31.
Qxd8# 1-0
|
[Event "WTWLTR Welcome MT against baumannjoe"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2013.03.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "baumannjoe"]
[Black "a_random_guy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1847"]
[TimeControl "5d+5d<10d"]
[WhiteElo "1305"]
{ Hello everybody! I started playing chess again, after a long break. Ithen joined the 'Walking the Walk and Learning to Run' club and participatedin the current welcome tournament. My opponent is baumanjoe, another newcomerto the club. (My opponent said he is still learning about the conceptsof annotations, so I have the Black pieces in this game, not the Whiteones.) }
1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Bd3 e6 4. Nd2 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. f4
{ This isthe starting position of the stonewall attack. I am not very familiar withthat opening to be honest. I know that White wants to place a knight one5 and attack the kingside, especially the h file. }
6... Bd6 7. Ngf3 Bd7 { Bothsides develop their pieces. } 8. Ne5
{ The knight goes to e5, a theme inthe stonewall. It is very difficult to displace that knight without compromisingBlack's position. }
8... O-O 9. O-O { Both sides castle. } 9... cxd4 10. cxd4
{ Pawnexchange. The computer prefers 10.exd4, as now I can take the c file withmy rook. }
10... Rc8 { Just like this. } 11. Qf3
{ White prepares his forces to attackmy kingside. } 11... g6
{ I try to blunt White's light-square bishop assault onmy king. } 12. Qh3
{ White aims down the h file, which is thematic in thestonewall. } 12... Nb4
{ ! I attack white's bishop and I threaten to land my knighton c2, which could cause some problems to White. }
13. Bxg6
{ ?? Ouch! Thisis not a sound sacrifice. White's pieces are not enough developped to pursuethe attack. I have enough time to consolidate my defences before the restof White's army arrives. }
13... hxg6 14. Rf3 Kg7
{ Now I can place my rook onh8, denying any possible attack down the h file. }
15. Qg3 Bxe5
{ I decideto trade off that knight. It is a good idea to trade off pieces if youare up in material, as the difference in material is more important inthe endgame. }
16. fxe5
{ The downside of the exchange is that White nowhas a completely cemented pawn on e5 which bears down on f6. However, thisis not as bad as it seems. A rook on f6 wouldn't do much. A queen therewould be dangerous, but mine is watching that square, resulting in an eventrade (which is good for me). The most terrifying piece that could landon f6 is the bishop, but it is not even close to that square, so no worries. }
16... Ne4
{ ! I threaten both the queen and knight, resulting in even more piecesoff the board. }
17. Nxe4 dxe4 { Knight exchange. I attack the rook as well. } 18. Rf4 Nd3
{ ! A powerful move, forking the rook and bishop. } 19. Rf6
{ ?White misses the threat on c8. } 19... Rxc1+ 20. Rxc1 Nxc1
{ I am now up two pieces,minus a pawn. } 21. Qh4 Rh8 22. Qxe4
{ White takes my lone lone pawn, butallows me a tactical shot. } 22... Ne2+
{ ! } 23. Kf2
{ White did not play 23.Kh1,as that would have led to 23...Rxh2+! 24.Kxh2 Qh8+ 0-1 }
23... Bc6 { ! } 24. Qg4
{ ? Wrong place. This most likely loses the queen, albeit for some material(which benefits me in the grand scheme of things). Better was 24.Qd3. }
24... Rxh2
{ ! There is no stopping Rxg2 now. (25.e4 Qxd4+ isn't much better.) } 25. Kxe2
Rxg2+ 26. Qxg2 Bxg2 { The rest is just simplification. } 27. Kd3 Qa5 28. Rf2
Qxa2 { ?! This is not the best move, but it works. } 29. Rxg2 Qb3+
{ White resigns, as the loss of the rook is unavoidable. (30.Ke4 Qd5+)(30.Ke2 Qxb2+ 31.Kf1 Qxg2+ 32.Kxg2 a5, the king is too far away to stopthe pawn.) 0-1 }
0-1
|
[Event "charleshiggie's Christmas/New Year Tournament 2016"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2017.02.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jkarp"]
[Black "archduke_piccolo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2120"]
[TimeControl "3d+2d<5d"]
[WhiteElo "1296"]
{ In general, with this tournament, I annotate games by stronger players. So, it's not one that I played. But, ION and Charles are both exceptionsbecause both of them have helped to build my games, as noted in my profile. Similar to tombulous, I did well, but made a mistake that lost. So, howdid it all go down? }
1. e4 { So, I start off with my usual. } 1... c5
{ Since heknows my style of play, I am not surprised to see this played. And, infact, we stick with the mainlines until the fifth move. }
2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6
{ But, this is where it differs since 5...a6is generally played. } 6. Bd3
{ With that I considered, 6.Bb5+ but don'tknow what that would accomplish after 6...Bd7 or 6...Nbd7 since one ofthose was his suggestion in Wizard Chess which I annotated. And, I saythat because of what happened against the computer where I played the Sicilian,but after 2...d6, 3.Bb5+ was immediately played, and I had a hard timeknowing what to do to get out of check. But, ION knew which means thathe'd have a very good answer were I to do that to him. Therefore, bearingthat the d pawn is gone, this was played to connect my c and e pawns, aswell as continuing the development to bring me one step closer to castling. }
6... Bg7
{ And, ION responds by completing his fianchetto. But, it gets interestinghere as both of us castle. }
7. O-O O-O 8. Re1
{ I also considered 8.Bg5,but it's not pinned. More importantly, though, is that I'm thinking alonga long plan. And, that's the potential for my e4 pawn to become a passerwhich is why I decided to centralize my Rook. Might not happen, but whatif this worked? Then, I'd have a Rook behind a passed pawn which is veryuseful in the endgame, and that is what I'm picturing here. }
8... Nc6 { Meanwhile,ION continues developing by attacking my N. } 9. Nf3
{ So, I defend. } 9... a6
{ And, ION plays the same move that's normally played on the fifth moveof the Sicilian. It didn't transpose, but I still put it under a verysimilar category because it's, as though, we were in a transposition sinceat a later time, black often fianchettos the DSB, right before completingthe fianchetto with ...Bg7 which is also what happened here. }
10. Bg5 { Meanwhile,I complete my development, at once, as does ION. } 10...
Be6 11. Qd2
{ Not knowingwhat else to do, I decide to connect my Rooks, as per Ken's suggestionin a different game, when I made another unwise choice to exchange forthe same reason. And, he suggested bringing the Rooks together. }
11... Rc8 { Iguess this was played to put pressure on my Nc3. } 12. Ne2
{ Starting tofeel it, I pull back, with the idea of bringing my N to a stronger square. By that, I'm alluding to 13.Nf4 }
12... b5 { But, nothing stops ION from connectinghis pawns. } 13. Nf4 Ng4
{ ION is trying to win a pawn. } 14. Nxe6
{ But, withthe opportunity, I decided to exchange right here. And, the reason beingwas to mess up his pawn structures near the King because of what I learnedfrom GM Susan Polgar. And, in fact, Ken mentioned something similar ina couple of my annotations. So, I felt that exchanging was wise here. }
14... fxe6 15. Be2
{ ? But, I overlooked what's coming here. Yes, I followedKen's suggestion about mobility, but I went overboard here as my assessmentwas wrong, in this position. Since I overlooked that my b2 pawn is stillhanging, and not to the Queen, in which, there might be a way to trap it. Best would've been 15.Rab1, but this move loses a pawn. }
15... Bxb2 16. Rad1
{ Given that my Rook was also en-prise, I decided to protect by centralizingit and hoping that, by doing it, the center is under complete control. By, my assessment it is, because my Q and LSB are also in the center. }
16... Bg7 { I am not why this was played. } 17. h3
{ But, nothing stops me fromattacking the N. } 17... Nge5 18. Nh2
{ To avoid more exchanges, I pull back. } 18... Nc4
{ But, with my Queen attacked, I felt that the only option was to exchangehere. However, I completely overlooked 19.Qc1 because my primary focuswas keeping the Queen in the center and right in front of the Rook. }
19. Bxc4 bxc4 20. Ng4
{ With that, I felt that it was important to get my Nout of the corner and onto a more active square. }
20... c3
{ I was a little surprisedthat ION attacked my Queen, but I guess the model is expecting to be surprised. With that, I'm ok moving it elsewhere. }
21. Qe2 h5 { As now, ION's goingat it by attacking my N. } 22. Ne3
{ So, I protect. } 22... Qa5
{ I was only worriedabout my a2 pawn, but that was the wrong way to think. }
23. Ra1
{ ?? That'sbecause, I overlooked that my Bg5 is on the same line. Therefore, thisis the losing move. And, it also turns out that ION could not have takenmy a pawn, as he pointed out. In it, he said, 'Now that is a pity: youwere doing so well up to here. The a-pawn wasn't really threatened. After23...Qxa2 24.Ra1 Qb2 25.Reb1 ... the queen would have been trapped!' }
23... Qxg5
{ Against someonelse, I might have stayed and hoped for a stalemate. But,I knew that I didn't stand a chance against ION. Plus, I also felt thatthere was nothing else to learn, so I resigned, under that circumstanceas per what reversion and I discussed in Reversion's Open Fire. }
0-1
|
[Event "Challenge from maddie1"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "16-Apr-08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "fireballz"]
[Black "maddie1"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1550"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1495"]
1. e4
{ maddie and myself jst enjoy a good game, and after a overpoweringdefeat by maddie, i had my knife in for him:) This game, i rate one ofmy best games to date, and im sure he wouldnt mind if i share it. }
1... e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4
{ usually i would do Bf7, but doing it against sumone whoknow my game, is jst suicide }
3... h6 4. d4 { i want to loose centre pawns } 4... exd4 5. Qxd4
{ Bringing out a queen aint good for development, because the oponentuse it against you to develop his own pieces, like maddie will do now... }
5... Nc6 6. Qe3 { so...i loose a developing move, by defending the queen } 6...
Nf6 7. Nc3 Ng4
{ the target is the queen again! sometimes i think that whenyou threaten pieces to early in a game, then they go into hiding...andthen you loose the position you could have used for a more effective attack,a move or two later... }
8. Qe2 Qf6
{ the queen that he brought out, couldbe threatend by Nd5....also checkout C7....a poison horsie... }
9. Nd5 Qd8
{ I think he jst took a chance, sometimes it can be a tactic to draw ina piece....so he had his reason. }
10. Bd2
{ I have lost 10 games in a row...andwhot i,ve learned is that i am way to eagar to attack before i'm developed...byopening the bottom rank, i can switch my rooks into the direction thati feel the game will swing, either queen or kingside, but because he havntdeveloped fully, i still dnt know wot he think, and he knows it. }
10... Nce5 { lets go this side...i ddnt loose that pawn a d4 for nothing } 11.
O-O-O { so, my rook pin, or will pin his pawn at d6 against his queen.... }
11... c6
{ getting ridd of that night, with a reason, will empower my bishop at d2 } 12.
Nf4 Nxc4
{ i could have taken that night at c4 with my queen, but...obviousmooves make you loose a game....I can attack the block at e5 }
13. e5 Ncxe5 14. Bc3
{ there!!!....its jst a small moove that can swing a game....andout of its shadow...a great power will emerge...that bishop held the key!! }
14... Be6
{ so...that bishop tried to free that pin white had on the night ate5....so it will have to go... }
15. Nxe5
{ attacking e5 with the piece thathad the smallest reach to pentrate defences off oponent }
15... Nxe5 16. Bxe5 { and....sending the good bishop in as a power moove! }
16... Qc7
{ white is nowthinking two things....he must prevent black from casteling...it wouldbe a great setback...and he must keep the attack fluent...and wot bettermeans than to attack the black queen! }
17. Nxe6 fxe6
{ so white is winningtime...and persist in preventing black to castle! } 18.
Bxd6
{ the goodbishophad shown its strength up to now...standing its ground through a good tacticalmoove...it threaten the queen, also if the black bishop take it, whitewill release its queen and then the rook will attack d6!! }
18... Qf7 19. Be5 { the good bishop open the file, preventing black to castle }
19... Rg8 { Im notsure bout that moove... } 20. Rhe1
{ that castle jst had to go there! } 20... Rd8 21. Bd4
{ again, i empower the goodbishop... } 21... Qf4+ 22. Be3 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Qxh2
{ you take me.... } 24. Bxa7 { i take you! } 24... Qf4+ 25. Kb1 Kf7
{ protectingthat pawn!(keeping out the white queen!) } 26. Rd3
{ now....look at how youtake sumone out of a bunker:) } 26... Kg6
{ realising the pin, black moove theking...white have to prevent black to moove into Kh7....how will he doit? }
27. Rf3 { eazy, jst threaten the black queen like before:) } 27... Qa4
{ threateningbishop... } 28. Qd3+
{ and that was the moove....its time for the black kingto come and greet oponent! }
28... Kg5 29. Be3+ { mooving the goodbishop back intothe attack! } 29... Kg4
30. Rg3+ { keeping the king on the run, and isolating itfrom defence.. } 30...
Kh4 31. Rh3+ { something have to go } 31... Kg4 32. f3#
{ and thereit is! a nice game against a worthy opponent! Believe me...he thrashedme the previous game:) so this was a game that would not easily be repeated:)thx maddie:)))) }
1-0
|
[Event "well controled game and easy win."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "10/4/2012"]
[Round "-"]
[White "goldmedal20"]
[Black "deepbreath54"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "844"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "763"]
1. e4
{ This game I felt like I had better control of the game and saw how munch I improved over time. It seems to me that I have better controlof my pieces and do not give them up . I am white and deepbreath is black.king pawn opeaning }
1... e5 { king pawn opeaning } 2. Nf3 { starting to buildup my pieces . } 2...
f6 { Bad move. All beginner happen to make this bad move. } 3. Be2
{ getting ready to castle king side. It is always good to do thatas soon as I can. }
3... Nc6 { starting to building her pieces . } 4. Bb5
{ leadingthe way with my bishop. I played these player 2 other times and almostwon both times. }
4... Nb4
{ leading the way with her knight. If move a2 to a3or c2 to c3 she would move her piece back. }
5. a3 { attack mode } 5... Nc6 { Iknew she was going to do that } 6. Bd3
{ why did i move that piece back???????????? } 6... g5
{ trying to attack on her king side } 7. O-O { castle king side } 7... Na5
{ feels safe to move that piece . } 8. g4 { attacking on my king side pieces }
8... Bc5 { starting her attack and building her pieces more stronger. } 9. a4
{ gets pawn out of harms way } 9... b6 { what is black doing? } 10. Nc3
{ Feelslike i have a strong attack mode now } 10... d6
{ still building her attack mode } 11. Bb5+ { putting the heat on black }
11... Ke7 { only safe spot } 12. Nd5+ { check. } 12... Ke6 { safe spot } 13. c4
{ bring up back up pieces } 13... a6 { putting the heaton my bishop } 14. Bc6
{ happy with how the game is playing out } 14... Nxc6
{ thatlast move was a bad move. } 15. d3 { free move } 15... b5
{ Evan pawn taking. Weboth get a pawn. } 16. cxb5 { pawn taken } 16... axb5
{ pawn taken } 17. axb5 { pawntaken } 17... Nh6 { attack mode } 18. bxc6
{ I just know black would not take myrook so I feel safe taking his knight. }
18... Nxg4 { leading his attack } 19. Rxa8
{ I just knew it. I am having a winning edge on this game. } 19... Qg8
{ gettingready to go in to battle. } 20. Ra7
{ I just know if put my rook sooneror later black would put queen on g7 so I could take it. }
20... Qg7
{ youdid what i want you to do. my next goal is to clear the way so I can getblack queen. }
21. h3 { Putting heat his knight. } 21... Nh6 { moves back. } 22. Nxc7+
{ now I need to get my knight out of the way so I can get that queen. } 22...
Ke7 { only safe spot } 23. Nd5+
{ now I need black to move down so I can getthat queen. } 23... Ke6
{ saying good bye to your queen black } 24. Rxg7
{ now Ineed to find a way to checkmate. Wow i only lost 3 pieces this game. }
24... Ba6 { last chance to save herself } 25. Nc7# { checkmate! } 1-0
|
[Event "Team match"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.01.28"]
[Round "-"]
[White "dougcosine"]
[Black "pennsylvaniadan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1403"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1391"]
1. f4
{ I believe this is the weakest possible opening. There is a twomove checkmate that begins this way. }
1... e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 d6 4. Nc3 a6 5. d4 d5 6. Ne5
{ So far white has developed his position well. } 6... Qe7 7. g3 Nfd7 8. Bd3 f6
{ Time to trade knights. } 9. Nxd7 Bxd7 10. g4 Nc6 11. f5
{ My guess is black will castle on the queen side, and white's far flungking pawns will provide no great advantage. }
11... O-O-O 12. fxe6 Bxe6
{ Withthis one pawn exchange black brings great power over the central squares. }
13. Bf5 Bxf5 14. gxf5 Kb8 { ? Seems like a wasted move. } 15. Qf3 Nxd4 16. Qh3
{ Qg4 would have had the added advantage of threatening the blackknight, while still protecting the pawns. }
16... Nxc2+ { Whoa, I overlooked thattoo. Classic fork. } 17. Ke2 Nxa1 18. Kd2
{ ? What? Black doesn't havea white bishop. Why move the king, and why to a BLACK square? }
18... d4 19. exd4
{ ? Nothing is protecting that pawn from the black rook check. } 19... Rxd4+
{ Worse yet, white must now interpose the queen. White could hold out fora draw, but in this case honor suggests toppling the king. }
20. Qd3 Rxd3+ 21. Kxd3 Qd6+ 0-1
|
[Event "Challenge from jstevens1"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.12.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jstevens1"]
[Black "concordborn"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "1558"]
[TimeControl "7 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1769"]
1. e4
{ After a recent draw against master easy19 (which jstevens1 annotatedhere: http://gameknot.com/annotate.pl?id=40260&rnd=0.8769076898578284 ),she challenged me to a friendly unrated game which I gladly accepted. GKanalysis found here http://gameknot.com/analyze-board.pl?bd=16385680&fb=1&rnd=0.6430096417965941 }
1... c5 { Gotta love the sicilian. } 2. f4
{ The grand prix attack, a variationI do not face as much although interestingly I had read an annotationsof jstevens1 on another game where she played this just before our gamecommenced! }
2... d5 3. Nf3
{ The mainline of course being 3. ed5 This move temptsblack to play 3... de4 but after either 4. Ng5 or 4. Ne5 white has a verysolid knight in the center that will take time to remove meanwhile crampingblack's development severely. }
3... e6
{ Wary of 'allowing' that knight to takethe time to find a good post I play this move instead. }
4. Nc3
{ Now we'vetransposed into a position more commonly reach as a closed Korchnoi sicilian.The move order usually used to reach this position is 1. e4 c5 2.Nc3 e63. f4 d5 4.Nf3 White has a lead in development but the pawn structure iscertainly weaker, a point exploited by my next move. }
4... dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nc6
{ Finally black develops a piece! All these moves are typical for this typeof position. While black has allowed white a knight in the center it iscertainly not as strong as the earlier variation would have allowed andcan be easily threatened with Nf6. }
6. g3
{ Given white's already poorstructure around the king this move surprised me and the GK engine agrees,allocating me a +.37 advantage, although with no variations. Unless blackplans to move e6 any time soon (unlikely) then the LSB is certainly goingto be developed to either b7 or a6, this move seems to just help blackto decide which route to take. And after the bishops have been traded thereis one less defender on White's kingside whereas black's queenside willnot be hurting. That being said it is the second most common continuationin this position (6. Bb5 being the major alternative) and has the bestscore in the DB. However one we get to a crucial position I chose a stronglesser-played variation that really tests white's setup. }
6... Be7 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. Nf2
{ The main idea in all the lines around g3, to castle Kingside andkeep many minor pieces surrounding the king to cover the gaps. }
8... Rb8
{ !Probably not worth an exclamation but certainly the most logical move tome in this position, remove the threat of the b2 bishop and support aneventual black bishop on b7, trade off the LS bishops and attack white'splan, to use minor pieces to protect the king, and white's king! }
9. O-O b6 10. Re1
{ The DB game has 10. b3 so we've reached a novelty. I'm nottoo threatened by this move, my king is ready to castle and get off thee-file when necessary, no need to slow the plan. }
10... Bb7 { Natural. } 11. c3
{ I had assumed at the time that this move was to support an eventual d4push but we don't see that until move 24 in this game. Perhaps the ideawas to play Qa4 and add a pin to the knight? }
11... O-O
{ Whatever the case it'stime for black to castle and complete his development. }
12. d3
{ We'vestarted to reach a middle game now and I certainly feel as though I'veat least equalized as black. Despite starting with three pawn moves I'vefinished my development before white. The center is still up for grabsbut I have the semi-open d-file and hope to trade off the LS Bishops soon.+.3 from the GK engine. }
12... Ne8
{ GK engine doesn't like this move, droppingus back to an even keel but my idea was to help activate the DSB and getit on the a1-h8 diagonal. I also want a knight at d5, either entice c4and strengthen that bishop's diagonal or let white decide to leave it there,but I don't want to play 12... Nd5 yet because I'm still looking to tradeoff those bishops so I eye the Ne8-Nc7-Nd5 path. }
13. Ne5
{ Again anothermove I'm not so sure of from white, I'll gladly take and trade bishops.If white takes on b7 first my rook my be momentarily misplaced there butit's an easy fix after ...Rd7 }
13... Nxe5 14. Rxe5 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Bf6
{ Gettingmy bishop where it wants to be while gaining tempo on white. } 16. Re1
Nc7
{ I could have played g7 and aimed to keep my bishop on the board butthere are still a lot of pawns hanging around and the board is fairly closed,this could turn into a great position to have a K v B }
17. Ne4 Nd5 18. Nxf6+ Qxf6 19. Be3
{ White finally develops her last piece. 19. c4 and thebishop is tied to the defense of b2 for a while. }
19... Rfd8
{ I don't want totrade off in this position, I love my knight and white's bishop doesn'tseem to have much to say other than supporting d4, a push which would havelots of complications and I'm not sure my opponent wants to get into justyet. }
20. Bf2 { Giving the e-file back to the rook. } 20... Qg6
{ Starting tolook for ways my queen can invade and do damage, adding an attacker tod3 and pinning f4. }
21. Qf3
{ Nicely bringing the queen into play and maintainingdefense of both pawns. }
21... Rd7
{ Obviously my way in is down the d-file andI decide to double up my rooks. }
22. Rad1 { More defense } 22... Rbd8
{ Followingthrough. The game is pretty even here but not a boring draw for sure! Plentyof unbalance and dynamics left in the position. }
23. Kf1
{ Getting theking off the hazardous diagonal and attempting to offer it some protection. }
23... h6
{ Making sure I won't be foiled by a bank-rank, especially watchingthe queen on a8 check. }
24. d4
{ Now we get to open the position a littlemore, let's see if White can make that bishop toll. }
24... cxd4
{ GK engine goesfrom +.19 to -.01, I suppose I am helping white to improve her bishop withthis move but I hadn't really considered any alternatives, perhaps 24...c4,really keep that bishop locked in behind it's pawns? But then my rooksstart to look idle on the d-file, although 25. b3 cb3 26. ab3 Qc2 looksnice for black }
25. Bxd4 Qc2
{ Invading into the position, I had decidednot to play nice any more and told jstevens1 that I would try to see ifI couldn't stir up some tactics! }
26. Qe2 Nb4
{ Opening the rooks up anddiscouraging 27. Qc2 Nc2 which has lots of potential for black. }
27. Rd2 { Forcing me to retreat. } 27... Qf5
{ Not back to g6, keeping an eye on tryingto quickly switch and get in the open kingside via h3. }
28. a3
{ Not wantingto give me full control on the d-file after 28. cb4 Rd4 29. Rd4 Rd4 30.a3 Qd5! threatening to play ...Qh1 or ...Rd2 }
28... Nc6
{ Not back to d5 as Iwant to keep the rooks open on the d-file and considering to trade offthe bishop if it gets too pesky. }
29. Be3 { Offering to trade down } 29... Rxd2 30. Bxd2 Qh3+
{ Trying to peek in through the kingside } 31. Kg1 e5 32. Bc1
{ Removing the threat on the bishop, looking to re-develop it onto b2. } 32...
Re8 { supporting the advance on the e-pawn } 33. Qf3 Qd7
{ Protecting theknight, and re-claiming the d-file. I played here as opposed to f3 thinkingthat I coud look to play ...f5 and support ...e4 }
34. Qf2 { Now I don'thave to wait } 34... e4 35. Qc2 f5
{ Now I'm very happy with my position, now Iwant to try to maneuver my knight to d3 }
36. Qb3+ Kh7
{ I wasn't worriedabout the check but this is probably the weakest response, I thought atthe time that 36... Qe6 gave up my what little advantage I may have hadbut looking at 37. Qe6 Re6 black still looks okay, if 38. Rd1 I would probablyplay ...Na5 immediately and try to improve that piece, if 38. b4 then Iwould play 38... Rd6 and play the knight back to d8 and over to the kingside,supporting those pawns first on e6 and later f4 or g5. The white bishopwould have time to play Bb2 and finally truly enter the game but I thinkI'd rather play on as black, at least while the rooks are still on theboard. }
37. Rd1 Qe7
{ Playing to e6 wouldn't have been as good now as Iwould have allowed White time to play both Rd1 and b4. But perhaps it wasbetter than the text. Alternatively if I had played the king to h8 afterthe check then a take on f5 doesn't come with check. }
38. Qd5 Rd8
{ Thefirst real large mistake of the game by either side, I had missed thatQf5 came with check and thought that I had just been allowed to skewerwhite. GK recommends Qf6. }
39. Qxf5+ Kh8 40. Qg4 e3
{ And the mistakeskeep coming, GK recommends trading rooks and repositioning the knight butI may have tried to save my rook for a little longer, this move essentiallygives white another pawn. }
41. Rxd8+ Nxd8 42. Qe2 Nb7
{ So I decide totry to tie up White's queenside, The bishop still does not have a largescope, perhaps I can get some counterplay, the king is very open as welland this may provide me with some opportunities. }
43. Qxe3 Qd7 { Tradingthe queens off certainly wouldn't help } 44. Qd4 Qf5 45.
Qd2 Nc5 46. b4 Nb3
{ A fork, but I'm not going to remove the minor pieces, hoping I maybe able to get the queen to attack the bishop as well. }
47. Qb2 { protectingthe crucial b1. } 47... Qd5
{ Protecting the knight, but the queen on b2 is somewhatlimited and this move also gets Black's queen to the center. }
48. Qc2 a5 { wanting to protect the knight with a pawn and free up my queen. }
49. bxa5
{ GK engine doesn't like this, much preferring Be3, almost forcingBlack to undefend the a5 pawn or get a worse queen position. It wantedblack to proceed by trading the minor pieces, but this seems hopeless tome. At least if I keep the knight on the board I can hope for some complicationsdown the road. }
49... bxa5 50. c4 { GK labels this an inaccuracy over Be3 again } 50... Qc5+
{ The engine also much preferred Qd4, and keeps wanting me to takeon c1. } 51.
Kf1 a4 52. Bb2 Qe3 { Hoping to maybe corner the king and winsome material } 53.
Qc3
{ A mistake now from white, throwing away the advantageand allowing me to force a perpetual! GK wants Bc3 to protect the undefendedd2 square my knight needs. }
53... Nd2+ 54. Kg2 Qe2+ 55. Kh3 Qh5+ 56. Kg2
{ Anda draw is agreed to. Overall I was very happy with my play until I letf4 drop, but even afterwards I was able to keep pressure on and exploitthe undeveloped bishop of White until I could take advantage of a misstep.A fun game to play :) }
1/2-1/2
|
[Event "I hate these games..."]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2010.05.04"]
[Round "-"]
[White "slis"]
[Black "x-machine"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1505"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1506"]
{ This is a short game (and I mean short - I created the game at 3:25 andit finished at 3:40 :P) White makes a mistake that puts him down in material- Black looks to get even more, but makes a mistake that proves to be muchmore deadly... }
1. d4 { Queen's pawn opening... } 1... f5
{ I wanted to try somethingnew, so I played this. The GK database lists this as the Dutch Defence }
2. c4 { White seems to play this after d4 almost all the time, it seems... }
2... Nf6 3. Nf3 b6
{ !? normally, Black goes for a kingside fianchetto here,but here he goes for kingside development }
4. Bf4 { Bishop development... } 4... Bb7 { Bishop development... } 5. e3
{ now that this move doesn't blockin the dark-square bishop, this move is perfectly fine }
5... d6
{ Post-mortem,I considered d5... but I should mention, I was treating the opening likea rapid-fire blitz game, and in my head I had already planned these moves.Besides, d5 might not have been the best line of play anyway... what ifWhite plays c5? (I should mention, I find those kind of moves very annoying!) }
6. Nc3 Nbd7 { the last of the knights get developed } 7. Bd3
{ here's whereI stopped playing blitz and put a little thought into my next move. I wantto play e5, but White has too many defenders on the e5 square. Then I noticedthat my f5 pawn was hanging, so I decided that it needed protection. Finally,I considered the possibility of simply blocking the bishop's scope... }
7... Ne4
{ I think that this is a good move, despite the 'moving piece twicein the opening' thing - and it did happen to be the onit's the only timewhere I played a move that took me more than ten seconds :P either theknight gets to keep a farily strong post on e5 or... }
8. Bxe4
{ as in thiscase of the exchange... [of course, NxN? falls to a pawn fork at e4] }
8... fxe4
{ the defending piece on the e5 square is driven away, and Black getsto play his desired e5... }
9. Ng5 { ? All of a sudden, e4 has a lot moresting... } 9... e5
{ ! Because of the discovered attack on the knight, and thefact that the bishop will be forced to move away from the knight's defence(or be taken) White is forced to shed material }
10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Ncxe4
{ the best way to get something out of the deal - White gets two pawns forthe piece... }
11... exf4 12. exf4
{ ..like this. I took a quick look at the positionhere and realised that I could win even more material. I played the nextmove without much thought... }
12... h6
{ ?? thinking that there was nothing tothink about. The knight has to retreat, and Black's fianchettoed bishopwill snatch up the knight, leaving Black with a winning advantage. Thereis just one very small problem with this... }
13. Qh5+
{ White now has amate! (here, I resigned, but I'll show you the mate) } 13...
g6 14. Qxg6+ Ke7 15. Qf7#
{ I'm pretty sure that almost all the people who have read throughthis annotation has experienced something like this.. you think you havea big advantage, you think you have a winning advantage then your opponentpulls the rug away from you! (though fair play to White for getting themate) I have quite a few 'skeletons in the closet' like this, so I figuredthat I'd get this one off my chest :) }
1-0
|
[Event "Chess Chaos"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.11.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "chesskingdom64"]
[Black "marysson"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "800"]
[TimeControl "7d+3d<15d"]
[WhiteElo "1113"]
{ A game that I would question constantly due to the lack of moves and openingconsequences that are mainly synchronous with each other. I had no ideawhat my opponent would accomplish with what he did, but defiency of thoughtmay have caused my opponent to resign in four moves! }
1. e4 h6 { An unusualopening, the Carr's defence (B00). } 2. d4
{ I carry out the decision tocontrol the middle. } 2... d5
{ Okay, I have to admit, my opponent wanted thecenter and probably wanted to play 1...e5 instead of the Carr's Defence. }
3. exd5
{ By now, I hoped that my opponent would play 3...Nf6 to at leaststart up some activity in this dull game. }
3... h5
{ It didn't happen. Insteadhe/she played a pawn advance, which was illogical in theory. }
4. Nc3
{ Afterplaying this move, I still hoped for 4...Nf6. Instead, a shocking situationhappened; he/she resigned!? I couldn't believe it! There were plenty ofmoves to play, but instead they had to choose to resign. This was probablythe most unreasonable game I have ever played. It's best to avoid doinga strange opening (excluding the Center Game, Englund Gambit, etc.) andknow your selected opening well even if you selected a strange opening.Also, the center is open for anyone and everyone should at least take theinitiative. However, there are some openings that don't take place in thecenter, and they should be used cautiously and perhaps sparingly. }
1-0
|
[Event "I-D"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "1971"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Mauro"]
[Black "Beton51"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "10moves=30days"]
1. e4
{ This game is more than 40 years old. It shows me (at the black side)in a international cc match Germany-Italy juniors (under 25years). enjoy }
1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5
{ the Traxler Variation in the Two NightDefense. Highly complicated and sharp }
5. Bxf7+
{ White avoid 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+6.Kf1 Qe7 7.Nxf8, which is deep analyzed and ended very offen in perpetualcheck }
5... Ke7 6. Bd5 d6 { new idea, allow the white knight again to jump tof7 } 7.
h3 { good or bad ??! Better is c3 or d4 for developing. } 7... Qf8
{ !!an idea of the slav grandmaster Krc } 8. O-O Bd7 9. c3 Re8 10. d4
{ a betterway for white is 10.Bxc6 Bxc6 11.d3 h6 12.Nf3 g5 13.Be3 = } 10...
exd4 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 12. cxd4 Bb6 13. Nc3 h6 14. e5
{ not good - 14.d5 Bd7 Kf3 Kd8 and blackhas enough compensation for the pawn. }
14... hxg5 15. Bxg5 Kd8 16. Re1 dxe5
{ doubleedge move , but the Bb6 needs a free diagonal. } 17. dxe5+ Kc8 18. exf6
gxf6 { !! black looses a second pawn, but white kingside is wide open. } 19.
Rxe8+ Qxe8 20. Bxf6 Rg8 21. Nd5 { blunder but what else can white play- g4 !? }
21... Qe4 { follewed by a black blunder, too - Kb8 wins simple } 22. Ne7+ Kb8
23. Nxc6+ Qxc6 24. Qd8+
{ ??? white blackout . Bg5!! followedby h4 is the plan, f.e. Qb5 25.Bc1 a5! }
24... Rxd8 25. Bxd8 Qc2 26. Bh4 Qxb2 27. Re1 c5
{ game over - at the end a lucky punch. } 0-1
|
[Event "Challenge from filipiniana"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2013.08.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "filipiniana"]
[Black "tulsatallguy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1200"]
[TimeControl "3 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "877"]
1. e4
{ Filipiniana challenged me to a second game where Filipiniana is white this time. I accept and she makes the most popular opening move on Gameknot.com - King's pawn opening.
Filipiniana has challenged me to a second game where she is white this time. I accept and she makes the most popular opening move on Gameknot.com - King's pawn opening. }
1... d5
{ Scandinavian defense is the response.// Scandinavian pagtatanggol ay ang tugon. }
2. Nc3 d4 3. Nd5 e6 4. Nf4
{ This is where filipiniana started losing the tempo. // Ito ay kung saanfilipiniana nagsimula mawala ang tempo. }
4... e5 5. Nd5 f5 6. Bb5+
{ Filipinianan places me into check with seemingly no regard for consequences. }
6... c6 7. Bc4 cxd5 8. Bb5+ { Check #2 // Suriin ang # 2 } 8... Nc6 9. exd5
Qxd5 10. Bf1
{ Tempo is working for me big time as I cover alot of territory! // Tempo ay gumagana para sa akin malaki oras bilangko masakop ng maraming teritoryo! }
10... Nb4 11. Qh5+
{ Check #3 by Filipiniana. Here IM Jeremy Silman in 'The Complete Book of Chess Strategy' on page 5 warns, "A typical beginner's mistake centers around the Queen: In general, don't move her too early! Because of the Queen's enormous value, she is vulnerable to tempo-gaining attacks by lesser enemy units." }
11... Kd8
{ Looking to take the rook, I did not want to move to g6 and make Filipiniana's Queen retreat and threaten my Knight's pending attack. }
12. d3 Nxc2+
{ How I enjoy the Knight's ability to take valuable pieces! //Paano ang mga bisita ko ang kakayahan Knight upang tumagal mahalagang piraso! }
13. Kd2 Nxa1 14. b3 Qa5+ 15. Kd1 Qxa2 16. Qg5+
{ Filipiniana's 4th timeto check me. // Ika-4 na oras Filipiniana upang suriin sa akin. }
16... Ne7 17. Qd2 Qxb3+ 18. Ke1 Nc2+ 19. Ke2 Be6 20. Qa5+
{ Check #5 // Suriin ang # 5 } 20... b6 21. Qxe5 Nb4 22. Qxd4+
{ Check # 6 // Suriin ang # 6 } 22... Ned5 23. Bg5+
{ Filipiniana seems to want to check at all costs! } 23... Be7 24. Bd2 Bc5 25.
Qe5 Re8 26. Bg5+ { Check # 8 // Suriin # 8 } 26... Nf6 27. Bxf6+
{ I don't understand this sacrifice. // Suriin ang # 9 at hindiko maintindihan ang sakripisyo. }
27... gxf6 28. Qxf6+ { Check #10 // Lagyan ngtsek # 10 } 28... Kc8
{ I didn't want Filipiniana to check me on the next move.// Hindi ko gusto Filipiniana upang suriin sa akin sa susunod na paglipat. }
29. Qh6 Bd5+
{ One of my favorite moves in the game! // Isa sa aking mgapaboritong gumagalaw sa laro! }
30. Kd2 Qc2#
{ Okay, this one will be my favorite since it sealed the deal! Thank you Filipiniana for playing. If you can understand English, check out my greatest passion (way above chess) in a video I made: http://youtu.be/VveJszRovmA }
0-1
|
[Event "Tournament Game"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "Bedhud"]
[Black "De Smet"]
[Result "0-1"]
{ In another game from the distant past, Bedhud uses the Polish opening...and falls to De Smet. }
1. b4
{ This opening holds no terrors today. Butat the time this game was played, it threw De Smet on his own resourcesimmediately. However, De Smet's resources proved to be sufficient. }
1... e5 { Opening a diagonal to attack the QN pawn. } 2. Bb2
{ Bedhud counters witha threat to De Smet's KP. } 2... Bxb4
{ De Smet develops with a capture. } 3. f4
{ Bedhud applies more pressure to the Pawn. } 3... d6
{ De Smet avoids 3... PxP??4 BxP winning the KR. } 4. fxe5
{ Bedhud begins a central exchange. } 4... dxe5
{ De Smet decides to exchange off his QP, rather than let Bedhud's advancedPawn stand. }
5. Bxe5 { Bedhud equalizes the material. } 5... Nf6
{ The alternativewas P-KB3, but De Smet elects to develop his Knight. } 6. Nf3
{ Guardinghis centralized Bishop. } 6... Nc6
{ In turn guarding *his* advanced Bishop. } 7. Bb2
{ Bedhud retreats rather than concede a minor exchange. } 7... Qe7
{ DeSmet pins Bedhud's other central Pawn. } 8. e3
{ Bedhud hopes to develophis KB and castle. } 8... Qxe3+
{ De Smet pounces on the loose Pawn, as Bedhud'sQP is pinned and cannot recapture. }
9. Be2 { After interposing, Bedhud resigns. } 0-1
|
[Event "Indiana State Team Championship"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "Josh Baker"]
[Black "Brian Wood"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "943"]
[TimeControl "Game 90"]
[WhiteElo "1022"]
{ This game was played at the Indiana State Team Championships held in Roseland,Indiana. My opponent (playing White) was Josh Baker, a high school studentfrom Elkhart County. }
1. e4 c5
{ During the downtime between rounds I hada chat with my eventual opponent and found out that he has studied someof the theory of the Scotch opening. I decided to avoid a conflict basedon theory I was not famliar with so I decided to stick to the Sicilianlines. }
2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 { Leading to quick castling. } 3... e6 { Let him bitgranite. }
4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Be7
{ I was wanting to castle earlyas well, but I eventually delayed castling to the proper moment. }
7. h3
{ My first thought was he was planning on storming my kingside with a pawnstorm with Bishop and Queen support. While I had a half-open c file, Iwas starting to consider queenside castling. }
7... Nc6
{ Put the question tothe knight. It is too important of a square to leave the knight unmolestedfor long. }
8. Bb5
{ Yet another Bishop move. He will make several Bishopmoves over the course of the game. }
8... Bd7
{ I wanted to maintain my pawnstructure without having to move my queen around unnecessarily. }
9. Nxc6 bxc6
{ I had considered exchanging the bishops off and having the pawn endup on c6 in the end but I decided to harass the Bishop some more. I woulduse the extra tempo to develop and establish control over the center. }
10. Bc4 Nxe4
{ Here I noticed that I could have played the pawn fork hadWhite taken the knight. My queen was not in danger since my rook was coveringthe back rank and he had not developed his dark squared Bishop yet. }
11. O-O Nf6
{ I had considered exchanging off the knights but I wanted to keepthe piece for the time being until I could develop another advantage ortwo. Numerous books have suggested the way of winning games was to accumulatelittle advantages so I decided to go along the same path. }
12. Qd3
{ Backto lining up against the kingside and opening up the backrank to bringhis A1 Rook into play after moving his Bishop. I saw that once he donethat the b pawn would hang but I did not want to go pawn hunting with myking in the middle. }
12... a5
{ My plan at this point was to limit the scope ofhis Queenside while leading up to the pin of the knight in the likely eventhe would move his A file rook to E1. }
13. a3 d5
{ I decided to harass theBishop with a gain of tempo while simulataneously acquiring more spacein the center. I knew that if I over-reached myself it would become a potentialtarget so I decided to play things slowly. }
14. Ba2 Qc7
{ Now leaving upthe option of connecting both rooks once I castled while preparing forthe E pawn advance. My plan was to chock the life out of White with gainsin space. }
15. g3
{ An unnecessary weakening of the pawns in front of thekingside. I knew that if I could somehow pin the F pawn I could take thepawn on g3 with check. This became a long term plan. But first I wouldhave to castle and then open up the center files for my rooks. White stillhad not developed his dark squared Bishop at this point. I think he wastrying to figure out what exactly I was going to do with my king firstbefore committing to an attack. }
15... e5 16. Kg2
{ To protect the pawn. It wasnot a potential target at this time so this was sort of a waste of time.Development was more important. }
16... O-O 17. Bg5 d4
{ I knew this opened upthe diagonal for the Bishop on A2 but I intended to attack the Knight andpossibly opening up the B file for my rooks. Upon reflection this movewas not a good idea. Better perhaps was h6, putting the question to theBishop and removing the pawn from the Queens line of site. }
18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Ne4
{ This was another potential downside to moving the D pawn. Nowmy center was grossly extended. }
19... Be6
{ My plan was to move both the g pawnand the f pawn to the right one file with the exchanges. I had the possibilityof moving my King to H8 if the White queen moved to the kingside for aspite check. I figured that if White would exchange my Bishop for his Knight,he would have wasted several tempo to do so. Another thought that weighedin allowing the exchange was the fact it would open up the g file for myRook, lining up against the White King. }
20. Nxf6+ gxf6 21. Bb1
{ Thismove made no sense to me. He wanted to save his Bishop for a potentialKing side attack along with the Queen. I knew that I had time to get thepawns in front of my King into position where my Queen could cover theH pawn. }
21... f5 22. c3 dxc3
{ I knew he would not sac his Queen for the pawnso I would tie up White with the pawn exchange. Now I had my open D filefor my rooks with the Queen right in the middle. If nothing else I wouldgain some tempos with the Rooks against the Queen. }
23. bxc3 Rfd8
{ It wasa matter of taste which Rook to move first. I wanted to the A file Rookto cover that file till I was ready. }
24. Qc2 Rd6
{ Even if White movedhis C pawn I would have both of my Rooks on this file first. I still controlledthe center which turned out to be a long term plus. }
25. c4 Rad8 26. Qc3
{ Attacking the unprotected pawn. However, I had the resource in place toprotect with my doubled pawn. One of the few times a doubled pawn couldbe some benefit. }
26... f6 27. Ba2
{ Now White is thinking about the skewer againstmy King. Instead of allowing the exchange to happen on e6, I would moveit back f7. But first I would have to deal with the attack on my Rook. }
27... Rd3
{ I am still eyeballing the G pawn. This move was to gain a tempo andallow for both of my Rooks to come into Whites camp with them lining upagainst White's kingside. }
28. Qb2 Rd2 29. Qc1 R8d3
{ Now the pieces arein place to attack the kingside. All I would have to do now is to movemy E pawn. }
30. Re1
{ Giving himself a little breathing room for his King.I would also be a bluff of an attack against the center. Had White an extratempo he could have played c3 but the pin prevented that. }
30... e4 { Now thepieces are properly positioned. Time for the attack. } 31.
Bb1 { Yet anotherBishop move. Good idea. Just a little too late. } 31... Qxg3+
{ A hit, a very palpablehit. } 32. Kh1 Qxh3+
{ Attack with a gain of material. It also lined up theKing in the perfect position for the Rook on my next move. }
33. Kg1 Rg3+
{ Here White resigned in light of the mate on next move following 34. fxg3Qg2 . }
0-1
|
[Event "Skittles game, New York 1896"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date ""]
[Round "-"]
[White "Frank M. Teed"]
[Black "Eugene Delmar"]
[Result "1-0"]
1. d4 { Unusual for the era. } 1... f5 { A new opening at the time. } 2. Bg5
{ Aggressivedevelopment. } 2... h6 { Driving the B. } 3. Bf4 { Settling in... }
3... g5 { ...or not! } 4. Bg3 { Allowing the B to be 'trapped'. } 4... f4
{ Falling in with Teed's plan. } 5. e3 { Threatens 6 Q-R5 mate. } 5... h5
{ Stops the threat, but... } 6. Bd3 { ...nowTeed threatens 7 B-N6 mate. } 6...
Rh6
{ This seems to guard everything, but itis in fact a fatal error. The move to save the game is 6... P-Q3! }
7. Qxh5+ { Diverting the Rook... } 7... Rxh5 { ...from guarding... } 8. Bg6#
{ ...this square.Finis. } 1-0
|
[Event "Let's play chess"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2011.11.27"]
[Round "-"]
[White "mustang58"]
[Black "kaspanatola"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "1947"]
[TimeControl "14 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1956"]
1. e4
{ I had a bad start just missing the best replies in the opening andgiving white the initiative and an attack against y weak d6 pawn, he eventuallywon that pawn, but not without allowing some structure weakness... I wasable to exchange in to a drawish rooks endgame setting up a defense withthe rooks on the 5th and 8th and keeping the king able to get in frontof white's passed pawn... finally without possibility of progress, a drawwas agreed }
1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+
{ Sicilian (B51), Canal-Sokolsky (Nimzovich-Rossolimo,Moscow) attack } 3... Nc6
4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6
{ the idea is to playe5 and enter a Ruy Lopez, kind of set-up, but until now it's all theory }
7. Bf1
{ !? surprised me I expected Ba4 this gives black at least an equalgame } 7...
e5 { now I have to be careful about a white outpost on d5 and thed6 pawn } 8.
d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bg4 10. d5
{ blocking the centre, so I'll mustattack on the king's wing while white should proceed attacking my queenside }
10... Nd4 11. Be3 Nxf3+ { needed as I didn't like the prospect of Bxd4 } 12.
gxf3 Bc8
{ now white has a weakness on his castle pawn structure, andI must chose between three options Bh5 keeping the pin on the f pawn, Bd7to prepare b5 and defend the queen side away from the promotion squaresor Bc8 leaving the bishop less exposed and allowing some more space infront of my king, I chose the last one with the idea of playing Nd7 latteron }
13. Nd2 Be7 { I need to castle and get my rook to e8 } 14. Nc4 Nd7
{ preventingNb6 } 15. Qc2
{ N in the game Balogh Csaba (HUN) - Grivas Efstratios (GRE),Budapest (Hungary), 2001 white played f4, eventually the game went on untila draw was reached a couple of moves latter }
15... O-O { finally I get to castle,next will follow Re8 and Bf8 } 16. Rac1 Re8
{ next I'll move bishop to f8a thematic manoeuvre for this kind of structures, with the idea of a latterg6 and eventually exchange my bad dark squared bishop }
17. a4
{ white isquite aggressive on the queens wing, he probably intends to prevent b5and support a future outpost on b6 }
17... Bf8 { I follow up with my plan } 18. a5
{ preparing an outpost on b6, I must reply on the king's wing } 18... Qh4 19.
Bg2 Rb8
{ protecting b7 and avoiding issues with Nb6, white now has an drawingsequence with Ba7 Ra8 Be3 Rb8 Ba7... }
20. Qb3 Nc5 21. Qc3 Nd7 { again athreat of repetition, now from me } 22. Qa3
Nf6
{ with the previous playon the king's wing, I achieved nothing, so it's time to change the sideof my action, the idea is to play Nh5-f4 at some point in the future }
23. Nxd6
{ as I commented on move 7 I should be careful about the d6 pawn weakness,and as if to prove my point here is white taking it... }
23... Bh3 { forcing theexchange of bishops } 24. Bxh3 Qxh3 25. Bc5 Nh5
{ and now the planed Nh5to get to f4 } 26. f4
{ white needed to get some more defenders to the king'swing, and needed to keep the bishop defending d6 }
26... Nxf4
{ Now I expect Qxh3,and white trying to improve his passed pawn, while black striving for equality }
27. Qxh3 Nxh3+ 28. Kf1 Red8
{ for now I'll postpone the Nf4, but it is inorder anytime now } 29. Nf5
{ now I must choose between g6 to provide anescape square for my king with tempo and Bxc5 exchanging bishops, alsob5 deserves my attention, for Nf4 with the idea of sacrificing the knightfor three pawns with Nxd5 exd5 Rxd5 I'm not sure I have enough tempi... }
29... Bxc5 { forced } 30. Rxc5 g6
{ to create an escape square for my king, preventingback rank surprises } 31.
Ne3 Nf4 { now I start to think about playing b5and if axb6 ep, Rxb6 } 32. Rc7
{ ? white needed this move, but I questionthe opportunity of it now, he needed some preparation, now I'll push thef pawn to undermine the supporting e4 pawn and force the exchange of white'sknight plus his dangerous passed d pawn, we'll probably end up againsta passed f pawn but a less dangerous one, as my king will be near it toprevent promotion... }
32... f5 { ... here it is, and a draw is closer } 33. exf5 Nxd5 34. Nxd5 Rxd5
{ worked as planed... } 35. f6 { again white is movingaccordingly to my plan }
35... Rxa5
{ now I need to exchange all distant pawnsand set up a defense against mate threats in the 8 th and 5th rank }
36. Rg7+ Kh8 { Rf8? } 37. Rc1 e4
{ opening up the 5th rank for my rook, and preventingany f2 push } 38. Rxb7
{ ! as i can't capture due to immediate mate } 38... Rb5
{ if Rxb5 axb5, again not Rxb5?? due to mate in one } 39. Rf7
{ ?! allowsme to play a5 were it will be defended by the 5th rank rook } 39...
a5
{ ...protectingmy a pawn weakness, from now on I don't have to worry about b2 as my defendeda5 pawn will take care of it, I expect Rcc7, but then I have Rh5 were iteyes h2 and defends both h7 and a5 }
40. Rcc7 Rh5
{ the other weakness Ineeded to address, the rook defends h7 and the mate threat Rxh7+ Kg8 Rg7+Kf8 Rh8++, also pust some presure over h2, so I expect Kg1, or Kg2, therook is overcharged but white doesn't have any way of profiting from it,we've reached a stand on situation, it's a draw now I'm sure... }
41. Rb7 Rc8 { not Rxb7?? as Rf8 is mate } 42. Ke2 Kg8
{ threatens Rc2+ and the exchangeof rooks, Kd1 Rxb2 Rxb2 Kxf7 wining a pawn a creating a distant passedone... Rxh2 makes no sense since I can't push the h pawn with both whiterooks on the 7th rank... }
43. Rg7+ Kh8 { to keep two defenders on the hpawn } 44. Ke3
{ ? allows me to move my rook to f8 were it eyes f6, now it'swhite that has to take care of my mounting threats... against h2 and nowf6, latter on against f2 and a2 }
44... Rf8 45. Rgc7
{ and white proposed a drawwhich I accepted, as Rxf6 isn't possible and white can't progress... }
1/2-1/2
|
[Event "fast play please!"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2012.02.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "michael60"]
[Black "martindarcy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1480"]
[TimeControl "2 days per move"]
[WhiteElo "1542"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8.
O-O-O
{ Thinking of an outright attack to weaken whites defense. So delaythe castling and start to push against c5 , a square which white has plentyof influence on. }
8... b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. Bd3 Nc6 11. Nxc6 { Just what the doctorordred! } 11...
Bxc6 12. f3 Rb8 { still holding off castleing and creating morepressure. } 13.
Na2 { Whites move surprised me, so I castle.. } 13... O-O 14. h4 d5 15. e5 Nd7
16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. c3 Nc5 18. Qc2 b4 19. cxb4 Ba4 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Qb1 Nb3+
{ attack going well,only 1 place to go for white. } 22. Kc2
{ now to block diagonal } 22... g6 23. Bxg6 fxg6
{ expecting white to advanceh5...but moves king? } 24. Kd3 Bb5+
{ My Queen needs feeding!! } 25. Ke3 Qa7+
{ My very patient Queen gets fed at last!!! Here are the messages frommy opponent.. Moves Chat (3) Notes michael60: you had better moveswhich would have helped you to beat me michael60: And this move I haven'tnoticed and it's very good }
0-1
|
[Event "A dead draw...?"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2016.10.05"]
[Round "-"]
[White "j3bennett"]
[Black "damafi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1447"]
[TimeControl "300+5"]
[WhiteElo "1531"]
{ This short game was won by me dued to a couple of mistaks my opponentdid in a very interesting (or not) engame with four R and four B, and alot of pawns. With a little nice trap... }
1. d4 Nf6 2. e3
{ This move neverfail to take out of my ground (the clubbish Budapest). It transposes intoso many other well studied 'serious' lines I'm not familiar with (and Ishould!). }
2... e6
{ I've tried the obvious b6, in order to fiachetto the lsb.But white players are normally well aware of it and manage to have it blindedby my own d5, which has to be played in most lines. }
3. Bd3
{ I would neverplay this as white, but I know that h7 will be targeted sooner or later. }
3... c5
{ Probably there are alternate moves, but this seems to me almos forcedfor black, if not now, at some point. }
4. c3
{ This is MY favourite assetwith white pieces (but for the B)... and I use to win with it! }
4... Nc6 5. f4
{ Uh, oh! My opponent is playing seriously. My 'normal developement'Nc6, carelessly played, probably costed me a strong attack on the kingside! }
5... d5
{ The best way to control f5 (Ne7 I wouldn't dare without solid knowledge).Anyway, as white I would have played g4 at once (now that I can). }
6. Nf3
{ Fortunately, my opponent is more focused in castling than in attacking.I don't know if he's right, but I would have gone for attack. }
6... Be7
{ Idon't like to move this B, since after dxc4 it has to move again. But Iwas a little scared. Now I think that cxd had to be played, and the N exchangedin order to counterattack him, instead of this 'normal developement' move. }
7. Nbd2
{ Again, my opponent is more focused in developing than in exploitmy weaknesses. This is a good move, of course, but it is not aiming atmy 'mistakes'. }
7... a6
{ I plan to pawnstorm on the Qside, if white doesn'tattack soon. Again, cxd would have been better, but let's say that is nota bad thing to keep it for whenever I want. True is that now W playing8. dxc, Bxc4, 9. b4 had won tempo, but hey: white's e3 is hanging! Of course,I won't, ever, castle here: it's asking for troubles! Bd7 instead supportsthe b5 advance in another way: I'll have to take out of the way Nc6, probablywith Na7 or Na5... I'm at a loss, in a board completely different fromthe ones I normally play. }
8. Ne5 { My, what a poor attack white is performing! } 8... Nxe5
{ Smplify, simplify... } 9. dxe5 Ne4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Bxe4
{ I'm apawn under, but white has no more advantage that the good B, which canbe managed by me in two easy moves. If white does not creates interferenceswith his Q. I have nothing on h4+, and if I want to recover the pawn I'llhave to play aggresively. The white Q is too dangerous, for example ong4, to be allowed. }
11... Qxd1+ 12. Kxd1
{ Aaaahhhh.... relax! Now, castlingis not my priority, either. It is to neutralize the B on the diagonal. }
12... Rb8
{ Thanks that the Wdsb is stucked in by pawns, his position is nobetter than mine. This will go into a draw, which I will accept (he ismore rated than me). }
13. Ke2 b5 { 'Pawnstorming' :-) } 14. Bd2
{ I thoughtthat c4 was not good, since after b3 white manages to activate his B. ButI also had memories of a game in which... }
14... f6
{ I have to do this, workingfor the activation of my lsb and not simply exchanging for him. I'm stilla pawn down, I have to prove it's a draw. And fair exchanges don't favourme, while pawn's do. }
15. exf6
{ I was now on a dilemma. Bxf6 isolatesa pawn and activates some play against the black diagonal pointing to Ra1.But, at the same time, I felt that this pressure won't go anywhere, becauseof white will get a scope for his dsb. So I preferred to keep white closedin, and play with with the semi-opened resulting g column. My best resultwill be to play the e pawn without allowing f5 in response. I need to bepatient. }
15... gxf6
{ Now, to free the way for my lsb I have to play, very counterintuitively,f5, defend it with my R and play e5. If I go e5 now, white will reply withf5 and my lsb will languish, being his best to be exchanged. }
16. Rhd1 { Wrong R, white! } 16... e5
{ ...but didn't I just said...? Yes. But now the situationhas changed. Now I can use the g column to make pressure on white. }
17. Bc6+
{ Not a good move. But I have to avoid further checks and take advantageof his misplaced lsb. }
17... Kf8
{ No checks. No R penetration by White. Bg4+threatened. What I need connected R for, right now? }
18. e4
{ White plansf5, or fxe5, but if he hopes I'll fall for exf4?? he's wrong. }
18... Bg4+ 19. Ke3
{ This 'must' be wrong, I sensed. Then I asked myself why. Then I foundthe answer. And played... }
19... c4
{ The exchange is assured, because white hasa mate net, and he has only ONE move to save his K, which is Kf2. (well,no: he had 20. Be1 (...Bc5+, 21. Kd2 forced and black has nothing betterthan BxR - and I doubt I would have played it, since Bd4 by white wouldhave sealed the draw) and ... b4! was the other one, but black would havewon the exchange and maybe more). }
20. Re1
{ No, my dear, not this one.This is the worst of all. And I started the game so 'scared', and thenI was just about offer a draw... instead of this, I had some tactic visionto apply to a very nice position. }
20... Bc5# { Take this! So you play more concentratednext time! :-) } 0-1
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