A game fought entirely in the middle.

[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2012.01.13"]
[EndDate "2012.01.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "freddieager"]
[Black "vivify"]
[WhiteRating "1257"]
[BlackRating "1318"]
[WhiteElo "1257"]
[BlackElo "1318"]
[Result "0-1"]
[GameId "8991837"]

{Here's a short game I played as black, that was entirely decided by by fighting for position in the middle squares.} 1. d4 {My opponent plays 1.d4, an opening I don't like as black, because I like to open by moving my King's pawn two ranks.} d5 {I decided to mirror his move, because I'm not knowledgable about how to counter 1. d4.} 2. c4 {He goes for what (I think is called) a gambit. Obviously, he wants control of the center squares.} dxc4 {I accept his gambit, because not doing so seems like he could clutter up the middle with white pawns.} 3. e4 {He fires the King pawn, getting great control of the middle at this point.} e5 {I mirror the move, for two reasons. First, two slow down his access of the middle with pawns. Firing another pawn, in my opinion, would weaken his defenses, if he tries to attack my King's pawn, with the pawn just right of his King. The second reason for this move, is that capturing my King's pawn with his Queen's pawn, would lead me to capturing his Queen, with mine, and removing his King's castle ability when he takes my queen, giving me a slight advantage.} 4. Bc1e3 {He apparently sees through the (obvious) dubious queen trade. I think moving his queen up a rank would've been a better move, giving him an even more solid middle game. It seems that he knew my next move would've been to take his Queen's pawn, which would've been deep advancement for my pawn, protected by my Queen. If this is the case, then again, simply moving his pawn up a rank would've probably been a better move.} Bf8b4 {This move was mostly to put him on the defensive, since up until now, I felt like I was merely reacting to my opponent.} 5. Nb1c3 {This move works out for me. It keeps his knight pinned, and if he attacks my bishop with his rook's pawn, I'll simply capture his knight; this (in my opinion) will make his Queen-side pawn structure weaker. So my plan is to make him pay for trying to take control of the middle.} Ng8f6 {His King-pawn is currently defenseless with the pinned knight, so I attack with my knight.} 6. Ng1f3 {He attacks my currently defenseless pawn as well.} Bc8g4 {Hoping to frustrate him a little bit, by pinning his knight. More importantly, I'm hoping to trap him, by using my bishop as an annoyance. I want him to try to repel my knight with his pawn.} 7. h3 {Yes! Protecting the knight with his King's bishop would've been a better move, since it would advance his position to being able to castle. But the annoyance of a bishop this deep in the opponent's rank, led him to making a move that worked out into my trap.} Bg4xf3 {I figure he'll capture with his queen, rather than mess up his pawn structure.} 8. Qd1xf3 {The trap worked. Now for my move.} exd4 {His knight and bishop are forked by my pawn, protected by my queen; moving his queen left him doomed to lose a knight or bishop, to a mere pawn. I think the best move here would've been to move his rook over and attack the pawn. This would've prevented me from taking one of his pieces, since I don't want to lose a queen. Ever since the first move, the entire battle has so far taken place in the middle.} 9. e5 {He decides to try to try to minimize the damage, by attacking my knight; if my pawn takes a bishop or knight, he'll take a piece of equal value. But that won't work. Here's why:} dxe3 {I now have mate in one move, via moving my queen to his second rank. He has no choice but to prevent this. I think his best move would be to attack my queen with his rook. This would be a good move, because I currently control the middle in commanding fashion; attacking with the rook can definitely turn tide on that. But most likely, he'll capture my pawn, deep in his third rank, with his queen.} 10. exf6 {?! He didn't see it! He was so focused on being down a piece and taking my knight, that he didn't notice my queen way down on the other end of the board, which hasn't moved the whole game. Interestingly, even though the queen hasn't moved, it was still an integral part of the action. So, time to do what the queen does better than any other piece:} Qd8d2 {Check mate! An entire battle decided by winning the middle, ended in ten moves. Thanks for watching this game.} 0-1