The Delayed Exchange

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 {It’s the delayed exchange for a reason. I wait until Nf6 to prevent a future Ne7-g6 and f5.} Nf6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d3 {Now, I have a solid center. It’s not the most exciting position, but it’s hard to dislike it.} Bd6 7. h3 {To limit the Bc8’s options, mostly, but also preparing possible kingside expansion.} h6 8. Be3 Qe7 9. Nbd2 {Here, I did allow myself to perhaps get too fixated on an eventual Nf5. Several of my moves speak to this plan, without really working well together.} c5 10. a4 {Limiting Black’s queenside expansion. I now have a nice little outpost on c4 for the time being.} b6 11. Qe2 Be6 12. Nf1 {Instead, 12. b3 prevents Black’s response.} c4 13. d4 {Interestingly, ignoring with 13. Ng3 was better this time. White ends up with an ugly pawn structure, but isn’t immediately in hot water.} Nxe4 14. dxe5 Bb4+ 15. N1d2 c3 16. bxc3 Nxc3 {Chopping up my pawn structure, as well as stationing the knight ideally.} 17. Qd3 0-0 18. 0-0 Rfd8 {Sure, the game isn’t technically decided –Black isn’t even material up– but the control is domineering, to the point that I think Eric should convert this. The more you look at it, the bigger the advantage gets.} 19. Nd4 Qe8 {Of course, though, it’s one of those advantages that dissipates quickly without proper play. I think Bd5! was best, threatening c5 or any number of simplifications. I’ll post my favorite line below, but it’s a fascinating position; I recommend you examine it some more beyond the constraints of this blog.} 20. Ne4 {Since he failed to prevent 20. Ne4 with Bd5, I use it, and now I’m able to try to liquidate without having to play Nb1 or something similarly putrid.} Nxa4 {?? c5 was the move, keeping central control, but this misses the hidden threat.} 21. Bxh6 {And suddenly, my weird little setup looks powerful, with Black’s pieces relegated to nonsense on the queenside.} Kh8 22. Ng5 g6 {Trying to regroup with Bf8, but there’s no use.} 23. Rxa4 Rxd4 24. Qf3 {Qxd4 is similarly good, but I was concerned it’d distract from the end goal: the king.} Qd8 25. c3 a5 {This looks very strange, because it is: I evidently missed a move scorekeeping, but I can’t figure out what it was, since it didn’t affect the following sequence. Therefore, I’ve just interpolated this move so you can see it.} 26. Nxf7+ Bxf7 27. Qxf7 Rd7 28. Qxg6 Bxc3 29. Bg5 Rg7 30. Rh4+ Kg8 31. Qe6+ {1-0.}

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20. Bd5 21. Nb1 {An attempt to liquidate c3 and clear space.} Be4 22. Qc4 Qc5 23. Qxc5 {What choice does White have, really?} bxc5 24. Nb3 {The best space to run to.} Nxb1 25. Rfxb1 Bxc2 26. Rb2 Bc3 {The sting in the tail.} 27. Rxc2 Bxa1 28. Rxc5 {If 28. Nxa1, Rd1+ wins back the piece with aplomb.} Rab8 {Now, though, White has no choice.} 29. Nxa1 Rd1+ 30. Kh2 Rxa1 31. Rxc7 Rxa4 {And Black is up a solid exchange.}

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d3 Nd7 {Kopiecki goes for a different approach, one that I wouldn’t play, because it’s a little clumsy, but an aggressive one– the possibility for f5 or Nf8-g6-f4 is maintained, while protecting the pawn.} 7. Nbd2 Bd6 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Nc4 Re8 10. Bg5 {Of course, there’s no need for an immediate Nxd6, which would fix Black’s pawn structure, trading a well-positioned knight for his worse bishop.} f6 {Forced.} 11. Bd2 {Keeping Ne3-f5 open.} Nf8 12. Ne3 g6 13. h3 Ne6 14. g3 {A little panicky, perhaps –the f4-knight could be removed via Bc1– but it’s better to not have to deal with it at all, in my opinion.} Nd4 15. Kg2 Bd7 16. Rh1 {Of course, once the opportunity presents itself, why not use the open space to mount an attack?} Kh8 {I don’t love this– it doesn’t really defend any, and it doesn’t improve Black’s position otherwise.} 17. c3 Ne6 18. Qb3 {A relatively pointless threat, encouraging an improvement through relocation on Black’s part rather than creating anything serious.} Nc5 19. Qc2 {Protecting d3, but also e4 if d4 is ever a possibility.} a5 {Trying to cement the outpost by preventing b4.} 20. a3 {I attempt to limit Black’s queenside expansion, but it’s a little misguided, opening up b3 for exploitation.} a4 {And all of a sudden, though I might have a kingside advantage, Black has a truly excellent place to station a knight; to make it a thorn in my (queen)side, as it were.} 21. Ng4 Nb3 22. Rad1 {Any square is okay; this prepares d4, though, so I’d weight it slightly higher.} Nxd2 {This, to me, is a really stupid move, honestly, the kind that gives me confidence I might be able to beat supposedly ‘better’ players. Why give up the excellent knight for my do-nothing bishop, unprompted?} 23. Nxd2 {A bit of an awkward recapture. I wanted to play f4 and open up the position, but Qxd2 is simpler and better.} f5 24. Nh2 Qf6 25. h4 {I attempt to reassert my influence by claiming g5 and stemming the Black attack– these threats would already be ameliorated with Qxd2 patrolling the c1-h6 diagonal.} Rf8 26. Nhf3 {Actually, a blunder– it’s the wrong knight. If fxe4 27. dxe4 Bg4, it’s a devastating pin, since there’s no Rd3 to defend.} f4 {Missed.} 27. Rdf1 b5 {c5 is better, preventing the powerful counterpunch d4.} 28. Ng5 Qe7 29. d4 fxg3 30. f4 {Too clever by half; there’s no need for this, and exf4 would give Black two connected passed pawns and a large advantage.} exd4 {Black passes up on the passed pawns, though.} 31. Kxg3 {However, I hand Black’s advantage right back to him by walking into a tremendous pin.} Rxf4 32. Rxf4 Rf8 33. Rf1 Rxf4 {And here’s another one of those moves– Bxf4+ 34. Rxf4 Qe5 instantly ends the game; Rxf4 just trades pieces.} Rxf4 Qf6 35. e5 {Sacrificing a pawn to at least bring in another defender.} Bxe5 36. Qe4 dxc3 {The game’s final blunder: Kopiecki misses the queen fork.} 37. Qxe5 Qxe5 38. Nf7+ Kg7 39. Nxe5 cxd2 40. Rf7+ {1-0. Rxd7-xd2 follows, after which there’s no point playing on.}

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d3 Bc5 {The third method of protecting the pawn we’ve seen thus far: of course, if 7. Nxe5 Qd4 lands me in tremendous trouble.} 7. Nbd2 b5 {Since Black doesn’t want the dark-squared bishop tied down to protecting e5, it’s crucial to prevent Nc4.} 8. 0-0 {Now, of course, e5 is actually under threat.} Qe7 9. c3 {Violating, actually, one of the key tenets Greenpawn sets out: “Now under no circumstances do you move that pawn on c2.” It does build a big center, but ultimately a weak one that Black can attack. Better was to go after e5 with b3-Bb2, and force Black to somehow defend.} 0-0 10. d4 exd4 11. cxd4 Bb6 12. Re1 {The center looks strong, but it can be undermined. It’s not an immediate loss, but not as good as it initially appears.} c5 13. e5 Nd5 {Nd7 is better, keeping watch on e5, protecting c5, and keeping the knight itself protected.} 14. dxc5 Bxc5 {Qxc5 is superior, protecting the knight and robbing 15. Ne4 of its punch.} 15. Ne4 Be6 {c6 was the way to protect the Nd5, because Black has 16. Bg5 Qa7, still protecting c5.} 16. Bg5 f6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Bh6 {And here I drop the ball, ending this blog’s streak of my tactical awareness: 18. Nxc5 Qxc5 19. Rxe6 fxg5 20. Rc1 and Black is toast, down a piece at the minimum.} Rfe8 19. Qc2 Bb6 20. Rad1 Rad8 21. Ng3 Qf7 22. a3 Bg4 23. Nf5 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Qg6 {Qh5 was the move– 25. N3h4, then, wouldn’t tempo the queen and put Black on his back foot.} 25. N3h4 Bxf5 26. Nxf5 {Now, White is properly exploiting Black’s queenside weaknesses, with the Black queen misplaced and no light-squared bishop to aid in defense.} Re8 27. Rxe8+ Qxe8 28. Qd1 {28. Qe2 isn’t available, so d1 is the next-best square to swing the queen to the kingside.} c6 29. Qg4+ Qg6 30. Qxg6+ {A subtle but significant mistake: Qe4 was the move. My advantage laid in the relevant placement of my pieces on the kingside. After the queen exchange, Black has the outside majority, as well as more relevant placement, effectively reversing my (small, to be fair) advantage and handing it to him.} hxg6 {Black’s pawn structure is also fixed.} 31. Ng3 Ne7 32. Bd2 Kf7 33. Kf1 Bd4 34. Bc3 {The other options were Bc1 (tying the bishop down) or b3 (preferable, if 34. B3 Bb2 35. a4, and I’m out of trouble.)} Bxc3 35. bxc3 {Now, I’m the one with three pawn islands.} Nd5 {Rather than tie down the night with 36. Nd2, I opt for a counterattack.} 36. Ne4 {This option has the benefit of fixing my pawn structure, at least to what extent that’s possible.} f5 37. Nc5 a5 38. Nb7 Nxc3 39. Nd8+ {This messes up the copycat angle, though, letting his king move for free. Additionally, the b-c pawns would have been easier to defend against.} Kf6 40. Nxc6 a4 41. Nb4 Nb1 {Thankfully, I’m let off the hook: the correct way to convert the advantage was Ke5, improving king position while I’m unable to before picking off the a-pawn.} 42. Nc2 Ke5 {I think the best move was, interestingly, retreating with Nc3 to prevent 43. Ke2.} 43. Ke2 Nc3+ 44. Ke3 Nd5+ 45. Kf3 g5 46. h3 Nb6 {And now the game is practically drawn; the only thing to do is to confirm it.} 47. g3 Nc4 48. h4 gxh4 49. gxh4 Kf6 50. Kf4 Nb6 51. Nd4 Nd5+ 52. Kf3 b4 53. axb4 Nxb4 54. Kf4 a3 55. Nb3 Nc2 56. h5 {Better is Nc1, eliminating any possibility of a2 before it can be played.} a2 57. h6 {This is the real, serious mistake that almost tosses the game away, losing the pawn when it’s not necessary.} Kg6 58. h7 Kxh7 59. Kxf5 Kh6 {And I’m let off the hook in tremendous fashion– the knight fork 60…Nd4+ would have been devastating.} 60. Kf6 {Now, it’s well and truly drawn again: either side could sacrifice a knight for a pawn and end the game essentially immediately; nevertheless, we play on for fifteen more moves before calling it (I believe I offered a draw and he declined, given that we were both in time trouble, but I could be misremembering.)} Kh5 61. f4 Kg4 62. Ke5 Ne3 63. Ke4 Ng2 64. f5 Nh4 65. f6 Ng6 66. Kd5 Kg5 67. Ke6 Nf4+ 68. Ke7 Nd5+ 69. Ke6 Nxf6 70. Ke5 Nd7+ 71. Kd4 Nb6 72. Kc3 Na4+ 73. Kc2 Kf4 74. Na1 Nc5 75. Kb2 Nd3+ 76. Kxa2 {½-½, finally.}

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d3 Nd7 {The same approach as in first game.} 7. 0-0 Bd6 8. Nbd2 0-0 9. Nc4 Re8 10. Ne3 {Here’s the first real deviation: instead of 10. Bg5, I reposition to hit f5 immediately. However, I actually think, looking back on the two, that I prefer my original move: I never end up moving Bc1, or, by extension Ra1, and I think it’s mostly due to blocking them so early on.} Nf8 {Ng6-f4, of course, will be the plan.} 11. h3 Ng6 12. Kh2 {This isn’t immediately useful –if Nf4 13. g3 in response, h3 isn’t any better protected– but it does allow for an eventual g3 Kg2 Rh1, as in the last game, so it’s not a complete waste.} Qf6 13. g3 {Now, the knight is poorly positioned, but my kingside is a little weaker. On the whole, not a dramatic exchange either way.} Ne7 14. Qe2 h6 15. h4 {This is a poor move; it’s not really productive to secure c1-h6 diagonal. It is, however, useful to control f5 more thoroughly with 15. Nh4 instead.} g5 {This, though, is a substantial and somewhat weird mistake. Black attempts to exploit the weakness, but instead only opens up his own king to assault.} 16. hxg5 hxg5 17. Kg2 {I’ll be on the h-file first, which is why I’m skeptical of Black’s intentionally opening it.} Qg7 18. Rh1 f6 19. Nh2 {I’m very focused on trying to exploit this position; however, I am neglecting Bc1, Ra1. Bd2 is straightforward and more concretely improves my position; the kingside situation isn’t urgent.} Ng6 {Misguided, allowing Nhg4 and further h-file invasion. Best was Kf7, getting the king out of the brewing attack.} 20. Nhg4 Nf4+ {This is baffling to me; I can only assume there was a miscalculation somewhere, as otherwise Black drops material to further open up files to his king.} 21. gxf4 gxf4 22. Nf5 {Forced; I suspect Kopiecki missed this move.} Bxf5 23. exf5 e4 24. dxe4 Rxe4 {Another sacrifice, and attempt at mustering something, but it quickly fizzles out.} 25. Qxe4 Qxg4+ 26. Kf1 Qd1+ 27. Qe1 Qf3 {Now, with the nonsense dispensed with, I’m free to attack myself.} 28. Qe6+ Kg7 29. Qd7+ Kg8 30. Qh7+ Kf8 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32. Rh7# {1-0.}