17 Nov 08
2 edits
{xxx} are comments
(xxx) are variations
[Event "Clan challenge"]
[Site "http://www.playtheimmortalgam"]
[Date "2008.11.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "zebano"]
[Black "khi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[Annotator ",Shawn"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2008.09.12"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5
{khi seems to play about 8 differnt lines of the latvian.
In my estimation, only 3. Nxe5 is challenging to black so I'm waiting to see
what he plays.}
3. Nxe5 Qe7 {a new line.} 4. d4
{silman claims this is good w/o any other commentary, I prefer Qh5+}
4... Nf6 {black has played preciecely and shown why I prefer 4. Qh5+} 5. Be2
(5. Nc3 d66. Nc4 fxe4 7. Bg5 Qf7 8. Be2 {white fairs decentely here, mainly due to blacks lack of development.})
5... d6 6. Nc4 Qxe4
{unusual, why not Nxe4 when Nc3 isn't played w/ tempo.}
7. O-O Qh4
8. g3
{knee jerk reaction to avoid dealing with Ng4. Re1 might still be better
as Ng4, Bxg4+ just wins. on the upsideo can get his light squared bishop
deployed.Amazingly enough Hiarcs10 considers this equal to Re1 both at +.86
after 45 seconds.}
(8. Re1 Be7 9. g3 Qh3 10. Nc3 +/-)
8... Qh3 9. f3
{more paranoia. I want to avoid BxN since my light squares are weak. I am
ignoring the fact that black has weaknesses to. Once again, Re1 is better due
to Ng4, BxN+}
d5 10. Re1
{finally.}
10... Be7 11. Bf1 Qh5 12. Ne5
{a beatifully placed steed, unfortunately he blocks my rook. For once I love the move f3 as it means black is denied a similar outpost. Hiarcs 10 absolutlely hates this move, proboably because the rook becomes useless.}
(12. Qe2 Qf7 13. Ne5 {is Hiarcs line of choice.})
12... Bd7 13. c3
{threatening Qb3, Bc6, NxB, NxB, Qxb7 if the f6 knight ever moves (doubtful) my bishop is still on c1, so I'm not worried about the rook attacking. Nxd7 makes no sense as the pawns are locked and the bishops have little scope.}
(13. Qe2 {is still hiarcs choice. Latent mating threats should be considered as candidates I suppose =)} Ng8 (
13... O-O 14. Nxd7 Nbxd7 15. Qxe7) (13... Bd6 14. g4 fxg4 15. fxg4 Nxg4 16.
Nxg4+))
13... Bc8
{black clearly has no plan. I'm not much better, but my aim is only to post as many pieces actively as possible. Ne5, Ne3, Bd3, Bf4 (f4 would be suicide for that bishop) then create a pawn break. I believe blacks best plan would be based around a kingside pawn storm starting with g5).}
14. Nd2 O-O
{making g5 a bit more double edged than I would like.}
15. Bd3
{-.2 Hiarcs}
15 .. Re8 16. Nf1
{slow games allow long manuvers.} Nbd7
17. Nxd7
{preserving the outpost for the dark square bishop.}
(17. Ne3 {+.99 Hiarcs})
17... Bxd7 {-.45 Hiarcs} 18. Bf4 c5 19. Be5 c4
(19... cxd4 20. Bxd4 {is a wonderful boon for white as it activates the rook.})
20. Bc2 b5
{oddly enough these types of pawn storms rarely scare me as much as a minority
attack does. I don't believe black gets any better manuverability there than I
do.}
21. Ne3 a5
(21... Be6 {"only move"})
22. a3
{possibly a wasted move, but now if b4, axb4 and that rook has some marginal value.the upcoming
subvariation shows how wrong this concept is (move 22).}
(22. Ng2 b4 23. Nf4 Qf7 {note that b3 is not nearly so lethal.... yet.} 24. Kg2
{i.e. to demonstrate the power of the Q-side pawn pushes.}
(24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25.Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Qd2 g5 27. Ng2 -/+) 24... a4 25. h4 b3 26. Bb1 (26. axb3 axb3
27. Rxa8 Rxa8 28. Bb1 Ra1)) (22. Bxf6 Bxf6 23. Nxd5 {
is a tactic that I continuously ignore =(}
(23. f4 {is also worthy of conideration.} Qxd1 24. Raxd1 Be6 25. Bxf5 Bxf5 26. Nxf5 b4
27. Kf2) 23... Rxe1+ 24. Qxe1 Qxf3 25. Nxf6+ gxf6 26. Qf2)
[mainline again]
22... Ra6
(22... b4 {is a better plan} 23. axb4 axb4 24. Qe2 (24. cxb4 Bxb4 25. Rf1 (25. Re2 Qxf3))
24... b3 {traps the bihsop})
23. Kg2 Be6 24. Qe2 Rea8 25. Bxf6 Bxf6 26. f4
{the goal here was to exchange queens, and counter the a-file rooks with ones
on the e-file.}
26.. b4 ??
(26... Qxe2+ 27. Rxe2 b4 28. Rae1 bxa3
(28... b3 {now doesn't trap the bishop so it just kills blacks initiative.}) 29. bxa3)
27. Qxh5 bxc3 28. bxc3 Rb8 29. Rab1 Rab6 30. Rxb6 Rxb6 31. Qe8# 1-0
Takeaways:
1. Have a freaking plan
2. Watch for 1-2 move pawn winning tactics even late middlegame.
3. Having a feel for positions and good/bad pieces is nice, but analysis and concrete lines are better (this is my major malfunction AFAIK).
4. 4.Qh5+ against this line.
5. Don't play the Latvian in CC.
All comments welcome