I played this game as black against the fellow Italian Stefano Tatai, FIDE 2367 and almost 70 years old! The time control was 15 5. I got to brush up on my Italian too. I included a diagram, so if you want to find a nice little combination as tactics practice, don't scroll down too far and see the answer. Also, if you want to make viewing the game easier, here is the straight PGN.
[Event "Blitz:15' 5"]
[Site "ICC"]
[White "Tatai, Stefano"]
[Black "Rotella, Tony"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "52"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4
Nxc3 13. Qxc3 Bh6+ 14. Be3 Bxe3+ 15. Qxe3 Qb6 16. Qxe7 Be6 17. b3 a5 18. Qf6 a4 19. Qc3 axb3 20. axb3 Ra5 21. Bd3 Rc5 22. Qb2 Bxb3 23. Kd2 Qb4+ 24. Ke2 Re8+ 25. Kf2 Qb6 26. Kf1 Rxc2 0-1
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6!?
The Dragon, my favorite opening ever, rapidly becoming my trademark among friends.
6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O!
Definitely the best line as of now. 9. Bc4 might be just as good, but 9. 0-0-0 makes black deal with positional pressure, while 9. Bc4 is much sharper and double edged for both sides.
9..d5!
A pawn sac that no one really accepts anymore, and in my opinion superior to the alternative 9..Nxd4 followed by 10..Be6.
10. exd5!
This whole line is the best line for White. With this move White sets up his idea for Move 12.
10..Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4 Nxc3!?
An interesting sideline that I have been playing alot lately against this line after suffering in the main lines for black, particularly in my game currently going on against David Tebb here. This is all still theory (No surprise in the Dragon) and I don't have my book with me but if I remember correctly Boris Gelfand is responsible for popularising this move. Notice that with best play it implies a pawn sac.
13. Qxc3 Bh6+ 14. Be3
One point of this variation for Black is that 14. Kb1?? e5! is -+
14..Bxe3+ 15. Qxe3 Qb6!
Black pretty much forces White to gobble up the e7-pawn, since Qxb6 axb6 is quite OK for Black.
16. Qxe7 Be6
What does black have for the pawn? Open lines on the queenside, a lead in development, actively placed pieces, a slightly misplaced White queen. Is it enough?
17. b3?
This seems like one of the big mistakes in this game. White weakens his queenside pawn structure, giving Black a "hook" for his attack, but the threat to take on a2 is very real in this variation. The best move is I think 17. Qa3! , returning the queen to the queenside and minding some critical squares around white's king.
17..a5!
Duh!
18. Qf6 a4 19. Qc3 axb3 20. axb3 Ra5!
I like this move alot. Black either prepares to double along the a-line or swing over the Rook to c5. Junior 9 likes 20..Ra2 or 20..Ra3 better, but I disagree.
21. Bd3?
Allowing the win of a pawn and the shredding of the White King's pawn cover. 21. Qd4 looks best to Junior. Most Queen moves are probably better.
21..Rc5
Again, Duh.
22. Qb2
I suppose 22. Bc4 is better. But cmon....
22..Bxb3! 23. Kd2 Qb4+!
I am not sure if I should award this move an exclam since I missed the point of it the first time. This forces White's king to e2, where it should fall victim to a nice tactic.
24. Ke2
BLACK TO MOVE AND WIN.
24..Re8+?!
Still winning, but the solution is 24..Rxc2+! 25. Bxc2 Bc4+ , winning the queen. Cute!
25. Kf2 Qb6!
Now I find this move to save my piece, and luckily I found the tactic the second time around.
26. Kf1 Rxc2!! 0-1
Hope you enjoy! 😀
Originally posted by !~TONY~!Congratulations on your fine win, Tony! And thanks for taking the time to share this great game with us! 🙂
I played this game as black against the fellow Italian Stefano Tatai, FIDE 2367 and almost 70 years old! The time control was 15 5. I got to brush up on my Italian too. I included a diagram, so if you want to find a nice little combination as tactics practice, don't scroll down too far and see the answer. Also, if you want to make viewing the game easier, h tactic the second time around.
26. Kf1 Rxc2!! 0-1
Hope you enjoy! 😀
Cheers,
arrakis
Nicely played game. I used to love playing the Dragon, but unfortunately I lost almost every time I played it!
The diagram is wrong, by the way. The king should be on e2 and Black's rook on f8 (I'm not 100% sure about the latter). I think the diagram shown is the positions after White's 26th move.
Originally posted by Fat LadyYes you are right. Either way it's a nice tactics problem though.
Nicely played game. I used to love playing the Dragon, but unfortunately I lost almost every time I played it!
The diagram is wrong, by the way. The king should be on e2 and Black's rook on f8 (I'm not 100% sure about the latter). I think the diagram shown is the positions after White's 26th move.