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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts |
The reason I joined the postal tournament (other thread) is that I'm planning to return to tournament chess. I gave up serious chess quite a while back (though I've played thousands of speed chess games in the interim). When I hit the expert level, improvement became quite a bit of work, and I was burned out, and that was the end of my study. Last year, though, I got the itch to study again and try to push my rating a bit and hopefully become a master. So I've been working on some tactical studies and hammering out an opening repertoire, and I not only joined the correspondence tournament, but after playing some Game-in-15 (minutes) training games, I joined an online league, where I'm part of a 4-person team playing one match per week. Today was game 1; time control is 45 minutes per game, with a 45-second increment added each move. My team had a loss and a draw going into my game, so we trailed 0.5 - 1.5; a loss by me, and we definitely get a first-round match loss. A win makes it all even with one game to play, and a draw means that if our 4th board can win his game, we can salvage a drawn match. Annotations are by me and un-computer-assisted, so I'm sure there are holes in them. I haven't done much of a post-mortem on the game; just sharing my thoughts at the time. Opponent is rated low expert. I hope the chess players of the board find it entertaining or amusing:
Alexping - LobowolfXXX 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Be2 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Be2 Bd6 Oops...so much for studying my opening repertoire. This was an unintentional deviation from the line I want to follow (8...Bb7) The bishop has 3 main retreat square: e2, d3, and b3. Bd6 is the response to Bd3. The main reason I'm playing slow chess now is to screw up the openings, study where I diverged, and better solidify my book knowledge. 9. O-O O-O 10. Nd2 b4 I'm playing for c5 (typical in this defense), which would free up my game considerably. Currently, that's going to leave the b5 pawn hanging, so it needs to be protected (...a6) or advanced. If I have to worry about the pawn anyway, I may as well grab some space on the queenside. 11. Nce4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Be7 13. Qc2 Played after about 9 minutes' thought, bringing him down from 45 minutes & change to 36 & change. Apparently, he wasn't crazy about it, but he knows that ...c5 is the key to freeing my game, and he doesn't have another piece that can clamp down on the c5 square. However, I have another piece to bring to bear on c5, and he doesn't, so it looks like I'm at least winning the battle to get that move in... 13 ... Qb6 14. b3 c5 15. Bb2 Bb7 My turn to take some time off the clock. c5 was intended to follow with an exchange of my c-pawn for white's d-pawn, which could be initiated by either of us. 15...cxd4 16 Bxb4, though, activates his bishop, awkwardly kicks my queen, and makes it hard to untangle my undeveloped pieces. The c5 pawn is adequately defended, so there doesn't seem to be a rush to trade it off; the trade is coming, now that I've gotten ...c5 in, so I continue developing and move the bishop to what is now an active square (no longer obstructed by a pawn on c6). At this point, he has about 32 minutes left on the clock, and I have about 40. 16. Bf3 Rac8 (see previous note) 17. Rad1 cxd4 I can finally take the d-pawn comfortably, thanks to the tempo-gain of the rook attacking the queen. Recapturing with the bishop, attacking MY queen, drops a piece: (18. Bxd4...Rxc2 19. Bxb6 (attacking my N on d7 with his rook)is met simply by ...Nxb6) So he has to rely on his plan of first safetying the queen, then recapturing the pawn, relying on the fact that 17. Rad1 pins the pawn to my knight on d7, so he has time to recapture at his leisure. 18. Qb1 Ne5 Not that I didn't consider 18...dxe3 anyway. But after 19. Rxd7...exf2+, there's really not much compensation for the sacrificed piece. It's fun, but two pawns and a check isn't enough. Plus, his rook gets to the 7th rank. Plus, my game has freed up rather nicely with the exchange of my c-pawn for his d-pawn, so why screw around? The line actually chosen gives me the option to trade off a bunch of the minor pieces and have a very free game. Unpinning the knight forces him to recapture the pawn now. 19. Bxd4 Nxf3+ The point of Ne5; the attacked queen can be dealt with after I trade off the knight with check (also securing the bishop pair, though at the time, I wasn't intended to keep it). 20. gxf3 Qa5 A midstream change of plans. Initially, I intended further simplifying with Bxe4 (tempo on his queen), further freeing up the game. However, my team really needed me to win this game, and I saw some attacking possibilities after lifting the queen to the kingside via the 5th rank. Specifically, I'm looking at Qa5 and the weakened white squares near his king. I think Qa5 surprised him, and he didn't like it; he went from 21+ minutes down to 8+ minutes. I checked his rating online, and noticed that it's markedly lower in blitz chess than in standard (slower) chess, so in addition to the attacking chances, I really liked my possibilities if he had to defend in time pressure. 21. f4 Interesting...looks like he's going to defend along the second rank, with f-pawns on f4 and f3 rather than f3 and f2. ... Qh5 22. f3 Bh4 Threatening Ba6, winning the exchange (securing the trade of his f1-rook for one of my bishops). He spent another 3 minutes considering his reply, which brought him under 5 minutes (but remember, he gets an additional 45 seconds every time he moves, so I need to make him think for more than 45 seconds on any given move to actually reduce his time) 23. Rd2 Potentially activating his rook to take advantage of the half-open g-file, with Rg2 threatening a check and deadly "windmill" on g7, and also clearing some escape squares for the f1-rook along the first rank, obviating my previous threat. I thought he might consider 23...Nd6, forking my rook and light-squared bishop; I'd intended 24. Bxf3. ... Ba6 Assuming that I'm driving him away to the newly-vacated escape squares (either now or after 24. Rg2...f6), after which his f3 pawn is hanging to my queen, but he has other plans. 24. Rg2 f6 (time remaining: about 5 minutes for him; about 21 minutes for me) 25. Rff2 So, either he was intending to sacrifice the exchange all along, or he thought it was the least of evils (as opposed to giving up the f3 pawn) ... Bxf2 The bishop certainly isn't doing anything if I *don't* take the rook. 26. Kxf2 Qh4+ ok, up on material, attacking, and he's short on time. Should be in the bag if I don't choke. 27. Kg1 Bd3 Further simplifying by forcing the trade of the knight, which is a useful offensive and defensive piece for him. The bishop is immune, due to Rc1+, winning the queen. 28. Qd1 Bxe4 29. fxe4 Rc7 Preparing to double the rooks, but as we'll see, that's probably not the best plan. 30. Rg4 Qh6 Not much choice here; if ...Qh5, then Rxg7+ wins my queen, and if Qh3, then Rg3 either repeats the position or forces the queen to h6 anyway. The queen has an awkward time re-entering the game from another direction; it's walled off by pawns, except on the 5th rank, but it can't use the 5th rank due to the Rxg7 threat. Not too worried about it; at this point, I'm planning on letting the rooks do much of the lifting. Bonus points if you noticed the cute Rc1(!??), simplifying after either Qxd1...Qxg4+ or Rxh4...Rxd1+; instead, though, white has Rxg7+!, winning a pawn for the exchange after ...Kxg7 Qxc1. One of my favorite potential sidelines from the game that didn't actually transpire. If my king had been on h1 (so that Rxg2 wouldn't have been check), I'd have played Rc1 in a heartbeat. 31. Rg2 Rfc8 Continuing a faulty plan, but there's plenty of time to regroup. 32. Bb2 Not a bad defensive position, forcing me to regroup. Queen probes result in his chasing me with the rook (see previous long note), and my rooks don't have any invasion squares. He just kind of sits in the panic room and dares me to find a way in. ... Re8 I'm not too proud to admit that doubling on the c-file was a bad idea. Mostly because his bishop controls c1. So I'll spend a few moves rearranging the rooks, with the idea of infiltrating on the d-file instead - see how he intends to defend d1 without a light-squared bishop. That should work against passive defense, and if he chooses to defend more actively, well...that comes with its own risks. 33. Qd6 Active defense; hitting the c7 rook and the b4 pawn. I'm not in the least bit concerned about losing either or both queenside pawn(s); I'm playing for mate. As for the rook, it was dropping back anyway, in order to have a little protection for its reassignment to the d-file. ... Rcc8 (time remaining: 4:45 15:40) 34. Qxb4 Rcd8 Worrying about a queenside pawn is fiddling while Rome burns, but it's probably burning anyway, so why not? He brought himself down to about 45 seconds with Qxb4, then the increment put him at around a minute and a half. 35. Bd4 Time pressure? He's either tired of defending passively (e.g. Qe1, defending the infiltration square d1), or he sees or senses it won't work. The main problem with clogging the d-file with his bishop is simply that he can't maintain it there. ... e5 36. Qc4+ Kh8 37. fxe5 fxe5 His fxe5 was played with 8 seconds left; now he's under a minute, but it doesn't matter much. 38. Bxa7 Rd1+ A fatal infiltration 39. Kf2 Rf8+ 40. Kg3 Qg5+ 41. Kh3 Qh5+ 42. Resigns (0-1) His king is forced back to g3, but now that the black queen has inched up to h5, Rf3 would be mate.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Way to go?!?
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Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
All I know about chess I learned from the musical of the same name. And losing horribly when playing against Bill on lunch.
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Nice game, Lobo. It looks as though White is fine until 15. Bf3, when you gain the upper hand on the c-file. Once you get your Q onto the K-side with 21...Qh5, white just doesn't seem to be able to find any good ideas. Any idea what he was thinking with 25Rff2? I don't see the point (your raking B's are pretty scary; maybe he thought his inactive R was worth less than your active B).
Your 27. Bd3 is very attractive, but I think White can fight back to only slightly worse with 27...Nxf6 28. Rxf6 Bxf6 Black is still winning, but it has to be better than the continuation. You don't look rusty; I'm impressed with the way you kept your foot on the gas. the finish is very nice! John
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-02-14 00:25, Magnus Eisengrim wrote: Didn't see 28 (your line has the colors reversed) Nxf6...your line would be much improved for black, but instead of Rxf6 allowing Bxf6 with tempo on the queen, I can play 28...Kh8, deferring the capture on f6; looks like white still has to save the queen and the bishop on d3 is still immune, so after Q moves, I can take on f6 with the g pawn instead? As far as his 25. Rff2, I think that what happened was (I'm guessing) in his time trouble, he initially played 23. Rd2 intended to put that rook on g2, and make room for the other rook to slide out to d1 or c1 (more likely c1 to challenge the file) after Ba6, but he missed that his f3 pawn would be hanging after moving that rook off of the f-file. A couple of moves later, when I actually DID play the bishop to f6, he saw that if he played Rc1 or Rd1, the queen would invade his position and capture the f3 pawn, and he decided that giving up the exchange would be preferable. He was under 5 minutes as early as move 23, so it would make sense to me that he could have overlooked that f3 would be hanging, and at move 25 when he realized it, he made a snap decision to give up the exchange. Not really sure, though. Thanks for the nice comments. I used to be a very active tournament player, but it's been a while. It was fun to actually think about a game again.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
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