A quiet win - annotated RHP game

[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.playtheimmortalgame.com"]
[Date "2011.07.15"]
[EndDate "2011.08.06"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ragwort"]
[Black "Talisman"]
[WhiteRating "1658"]
[BlackRating "1646"]
[WhiteElo "1658"]
[BlackElo "1646"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "8565034"]

{Four Knights Game} 1. e4 {I play fewer 1. e4 games these days but dabble occasionally.} e5 {I know my opponent quite well. In real life his OTB grade is considerably lower than mine. When he is in the groove he will play stronger at correspondence chess because he will analyse a position for long periods with incessant clicking of the analyse board and then allows his reply to "mature" for a day or two before sending it. Lately he has become more slapdash.} 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Nb1c3 Ng8f6 {This is the start position of the four knights opening. Regarded by theorists as pretty much played out. From my point of view it gives a straightforward route to a playable middle game, without being cramped.} 4. d4 {I think this is the best move here, but Bb5 and g3 are common enough.} exd4 {4...Bb4 is also playable.} 5. Nf3xd4 {5. Nd5 is the Belgrade Gambit, but I don't know much more about it than the name.} Bf8b4 6. Nd4xc6 bxc6 7. Qd1d4 {Here I believe the book move is 7.Bd3. I saw no reason to follow theory any further. The queen threatens the bishop, has the possibility of going to e5 with check disrupting castling and looking at c7, and could, in combination with Bg5, pressure the f6 knight. Also in the event of 7...Bxc3 then 8. Qxc3 Nxe4 9. Qxg7 looked like a game.} c5 {The only move to harass the early developed queen, but I don't believe it achieves much, although black can argue that Bb7 is a threat.} 8. Qd4e5 Qd8e7 {c7 is safe for the moment as e4 is vulnerable.} 9. Qe5xe7 Ke8xe7 10. Bc1d2 {White prevents his c pawns from being doubled because if Bxc3 Bxc3 Nxe4 then Bxg7. The Bishop on f1 holds g2 after Rg8 in these lines.} Bc8b7 {At this stage Black is ahead in development - three pieces out to White's two.} 11. f3 {Securing the e pawn and reducing the influence of the b7 Bishop.} a6 {Black fails to "get torn into this clown" as GP would say and spends a tempo on preventing Nb5 attacking c7.} 12. Bf1c4 {A good square for the bishop which is developed beyond the f3/e4 pawn chain.} Rh8e8 {Intending Kf8 with the rooks connected.} 13. O-O-O {I felt this was best giving the rook the half open file and protecting the b2 pawn with the King should Black play Rb8 at any point.} d6 {Removing the implied threat to the d7 pawn from the d1 rook which looks more serious after the intended Kf8. White is now equal in development.} 14. Rh1e1 {White brings his final undeveloped piece to a good square where it supports a push of the e pawn.} Ke7f8 {As intended. Apart from a notional weakness of the doubled c pawn the position looks utterly innocuous. Black should have chances to develop something on the queen side perhaps utilising the half open b file against the White King. White is ahead in development by one move.} 15. a3 {To see if he would surrender the two bishops. At this point it is vital to make a threat and try to seize the initiative before Black thinks of something to do. By keeping Black on the back foot it should be possible to increase the advantages gained so far and ultimately force a win.} Bb4xc3 {I had thought that if ...Ba5 16. Nd5 if then 16....Nxd5 17. Bxa5 or 16....Bb6 17. Nxb6 cxb6 and I thought I could then win a pawn on d6.} 16. Bd2xc3 {White now has a one move lead in development (the rook), two bishops and black has the doubled pawn. Black now has to take into account White playing e5, with sequences like 17. e5 d5 18. exf6 dxc4 19.fxg7+ Kg8 20. Rd7 and Black's tripled pawns look terrible.} Nf6d7 {Motivated by the fears in the last note Black plays to discourage e5.} 17. e5 {But White can play this move anyway because he can win back the pawn by attacking the weak doubled c pawns from d7 which also attacks f7 in conjunction with the Bishop. Black has not been analysing as carefully as he usually does....} Nd7xe5 {If dxe5 then Rxd7} 18. Bc3xe5 dxe5 {Rxe5 Rxe5 dxe5 when Rd7 forks c7 and f7.} 19. Rd1d7 {Forking f7 and c7 and more or less forcing Black's next move.} Re8e7 20. Rd7xe7 Kf8xe7 21. Re1xe5 {Regaining the pawn and forking King and c5.} Ke7d6 22. Re5h5 {The "move after" where f7 and h7 are threatened. Black must lose a pawn and still has the doubled c pawns as potential weak spots to defend. Here the Black Rook on a8 shows how much 1 tempo can be sometimes.} h6 23. Bc4xf7 Ra8f8 24. Bf7c4 Rf8e8 {I thought he might try to trap the white rook whilst it was offside on h5 and does not have too many squares available to it but instead he threatens to play to e1 followed by g1 and win back the pawn (g3 Bxf3 attacking the rook so a6 is safe).} 25. Kc1d2 {Prevents entry by the Black Rook. White's advantage is now clear so Black decided to resign stating that the position was one of those that was "too far gone despite being only a pawn down" and, whilst I could not point to a clear winning sequence from this position, I do agree with his assessment. I quite like the way this game developed from an innocuous opening and what seemed to me to be a reasonable deviation from book theory. By throwing the opponent on his own resources early, capitalising on the slight advantages he conceded and more or less keeping the tactics under control encouraged a resignation in an almost bloodless coup.} 1-0

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Qd4
Qe7 8. f3 {To hold the e-pawn. If 8.Bd3 then 8...Bc5 and 9....Ng4 gives Black a good position. If White is reduced to this then drumming up any fun is hard. I'd say already Black has taken over.} 8... Bc5 9. Qd3 Rb8 10. Na4 {A good try by White as the Bishop has to go to the self blocking square d6. But before he does....} 10... Bb4+ {...he sucks forward the c-pawn....} 11. c3 {...and the Knight is looking very sad. c3 was it's way back home.} 11... Bd6 12. Be3 O-O 13. O-O-O {White has a defensive set-up in mind then he will launch his g-pawn forward.} 13... Re8 14. Qc2 {To get the f1 Bishop into the game.} 14...Nd5 {Black kicks it off. He offers a pawn that I think Black should decline.} 15. Bxa7 {A brave or foolish pawn steal considering the state of a4 Knight.} 15... Ra8 16. exd5 Rxa7 17. dxc6 {I would have thought twice before playing this. The c8 Bishop comes alive. Keeping it out of the game was the idea of Na4.} 17... dxc6 18. Bc4 {White's idea is to play Bb3 holding the Knight and blocking the open files. Smyslov shoots that idea down. Instructive stuff.} 18... Qg5+ 19. Kb1 Bf5 20. Bd3 {The Bishop has to save the Queen. The Knight is doomed.} 20... Bxd3 21. Rxd3 Qb5 22. Rd4 Rea8 {White had seen enough and resigned. Black will win the Knight and still have a stonking attack.}

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5 6.Be3 Bb6 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 d5 9.Nxc6 Bxe3 10.Qxe3 bxc6 11.O-O-O Qe7 12.Qg5 Re8 13.exd5 h6 14.Qd2 cxd5 15.Bb5 Bd7 16.Bxd7 Qxd7 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 Qxd5 19.Rxd5 Re2 20.Rd2 Rae8 21.Rhd1 f5 22.c4 R8e7 23.Rxe2 Rxe2 24.Rd2 Re7 25.b4 Kf7 26.Kc2 g5 27.Kb3 Re3+ 28.Ka4 Ke6 29.Kb5 Rc3 30.c5 Ke5 31.Kc6 g4 32.fxg4 fxg4 33.Kxc7 a5 34.c6 axb4 35.Kd7 b3 36.axb3 Rxb3 37.c7 1-0

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 cxd5 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 c6 11. Na4 Bd6 12. Re1 Rb8 13. c4 Be6 14. Rc1 h6 15. cxd5 Bxd5 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Bc4 Bf4 18. Rc2 Rfd8 19. Qe2 Rb4 20. Bxd5 cxd5 21. Nc5 Bd6 22. a3 Rbb8 23. b4 g6 24. g3 Kg7 25. Qa6 Qf5 26. Rec1 Be5 27. Qd3 Qf6 28. Na6 Rb6 29. b5 Rdd6 30. Nb4 h5 31. a4 h4 32. a5 Rb8 33. Rc8 Rxc8 34. Rxc8 Qe6 35. Rc7 h3 36. Rxa7 Bxg3 37. fxg3 Qe1+ 38. Qf1 Qe3+ 39. Qf2 Qc1+ 40. Qf1 Qe3+ 41. Qf2 Qc1+ 1/2-1/2