The Bc4 debate + bad knights to remember + blundersome rooks
1. e4 c5 2. Ng1f3 d6 3. Bf1c4
There is debate over the value of this Bishop, particularly after Black plays e6, but I aim to keep the Bishop on this diagonal and see whether it could prove useful in the long run
Black now has an opportunity for a knight trick, with 13... Nxe4, and the best follow up is 14.Bxe7 Nxd2, and after the trade of Queen's, Black will be a pawn up
13... Nd7b6
But we don't see that, instead White's Queen drops back, which is sort of a loss of tempo, but the position is roughly equal
14. Qc4c2 Qd8d7 15. e5
This is ok, just aiming to break open some files
15... Nf6g4
Offers a more even exchange of pieces, which suits both players fine
16. Bg5xe7 Qd7xe7 17. exd6 Qe7xd6 18. h3
For a series of moves, Fritz seems to prefer Ne4 for White, hitting the Queen and possibly looking to pick up c5, but I instead preferred to get my chess rooks boasting on the open files
18... Ng4f6
(my apologies, I know Christmas was over a month ago)
19. Rf1e1 Rf8d8 20. Rb1c1 Rb8c8 21. Nf3e5
To protect the pawn on d3, but I had also played this move with Nc4 in mind, looking to force more trade of material and then the Bishop would be back on c4, acting as d3's guardian