Clandarkfire – The Forum
Hello all, this is my first attempt at annotating one of my games.
Background
The game was played in the forum of the Provisional Club, Club 171. It was set up to function in the same way as the PAWNRIOT vs. The Forum Game, in which the forum votes on every move, and the most popular choice is moved in the game. A separate thread was set up in the forum of the club for analysis; I agreed not to look into the thread while the game was running.
To make sure that the game ran smoothly and was not forgotten, an actual game was set up between Fergalish User 500656 and myself. Once a week, Fergalish would play The Forum’s most popular choice in the game. I’ll show the full game at the end, but to get there, I’ll show a few sample positions and my ideas.
Now that the game is done, I’ve had a quick look in the thread, hoping to see the player’s thoughts, and anything I missed. As it turns out, running such a game in a club forum is probably not a great idea, as it is very difficult to get enough people to participate. Everything went well for the first 15 moves or so, but at that point, a number of the players who were participating began to lose interest. I believe this was caused in part by the banning of User 488042, who was leading a good bit of the discussion.
Anyway, for whatever reason, after move 17, which is really still book, only two valiant players continued the discussion: Fergalish and Crissxcross.
User 500656
User 563952
Before I go into any analysis, I’d like to congratulate both of these brave players for playing on. You might say that this game isn’t worth looking at; it’s just a 2000 player versus a couple of 1500s, but don’t say it too loudly. The entire game was played very well from their point of view, and looking back, I cannot find any place in the game where I felt that a significantly inferior move was played. So keep watching; I hope it makes for an interesting show.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4
Here black is faced with an important choice. Black’s two major options are 4…Bc5 and 4…Nf6. Also playable are 4…Nxd4 and 4…Qh4, but practice has shown that in general white has all the fun.
Here black opts for the sharpest and most theoretical approach:
4…Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6
This brings us into the Mieses Variation with 8…Ba6, almost certainly the most theoretical variation of the Scotch. Since this is CC play, both sides have access to DBs, so no early mistakes are to be expected. I play the Scotch almost exclusively as white when given the opportunity, but I generally end up in the less theoretical world of the Mainline Scotch with 4…Bc5, so I don’t have a huge amount of experience with this line.
Back to the position:
Black’s other option was 8…Nb6, a less aggressive approach. Personally, I would prefer that line with black – simply because he must not yet commit himself to any particular line. However, 8…Ba6 is the most popular choice- after all, instead of simply retreating the knight, black develops a piece an gives himself the opportunity for queenside castling.
The problem with 8…Ba6 is that black must has now committed himself to a certain plan, and there is no going back. For now, the bishop is active enough in that it is pinning the c4 pawn and allowing the knight to keep its central position. However, the knight will probably be forced to move anyway once the queen leaves the f1-a6 diagonal. The other problem for black is that after 9.b3, the bishop will often become poorly placed on a6, as it can make no progress biting into the b3/c4 pawn structure. Black’s best chance is generally to take advantage of the weakness of the e5 pawn, possibly by fianchettoing (is that a word?) the king bishop.
9.b3
Cementing the pawn on c4, and preparing Bb2. The a6 bishop is beginning to look silly, though it still plays an important role in pinning the c4 pawn.
Take a moment to look at the typical Mieses pawn structure here:
Both sides have weaknesses on the queenside, but white has more practical chances in exploiting them. Keep that in mind for later. In order get some counterplay, black would like to pull off a timely d7-d5 push in many variations.
Black’s most popular replies here are 9…g6, 9…g5 and 9…O-O-O. All these variations have a good amount of theory behind them, so I won’t even attempt to explain them.
In this game however, black chooses a different approach:
9…Qh4?!
The first and most obvious purpose of this move is that it pins the pawn at f2. In a number of lines in the Mieses Variation, the f2-f4 pawn push is needed to help support white’s pawn spearhead on e5. After Qh4, this is no longer possible. However, the logic behind such thinking may be flawed, because after g3, (a natural move in this line anyway), the queen gets kicked with an extra tempo and the f2 pawn gets to go to f4 anyway. The other, probably most useful purpose of this move is that it frees up the f8 bishop – which would love to come to b4 or c5 in the future. It also opens the d4 square for the queen. How is this useful? Well, take the natural looking reply of 10.g3:
10…Qd4 11.Bb2 Bb4+ 12.Nd2:
And white is loosing a piece and the game after Qxb2. Remember what I said about this being a sharp line?
So what options does white have? 10.Bb2 looks OK in that it prevents Qd4, but even so white’s position is in shambles after 10…Bb4+ 11.Nd2 Nc3 12.Bxc3 Bxc3 13.O-O-O
See the weakness on the dark squares? White may be able to hold on after 13.Rd1, but it isn’t going to be pretty.
This leaves white with one option: 10.a3
This insignificant move takes care of all of black’s immediate threats as explained above. Qd4 is no longer a threat because Bb4+ isn’t possible after Bb2.
Here, black really has no choice but to go through with his attacking plan with 10…Bc5. 10…Nf4 is possible, but the position after 11.Qe4! Ng6 12.Qxh4 Nxh4 gives black no winning chances:
Not wanting to commit to such a line, black goes with the obvious move:
10…Bc5 11.g3
Giving the queen a kick, but opening a myriad of tactical possibilities. There’s no going back from here.
11…Bxf2 12.Qxf2 Qe4+ 13.Kd1!
After the more natural looking 13.Kd2 Qxh1 14.Bg2 Qxh2 15.cxd5 cxd5, black is doing fine, though the position is by no means clear:
Back to the game: 13..Qxh1 14.Nd2
Quite an exciting position! White is down an exchange and a pawn, but black’s queen is very exposed and cannot find shelter. The a6 bishop is now doing nothing, and the knight is forced to move. Remember what I said about white having all the fun in this line?
14…Nc3?
I was a little hesitant in giving this move a question mark, but I believe black can do better. It’s an uphill battle for black from here. This is by no means forced. Another possible line, which is probably better for black:
This is what was played in Macieja – Kaminski 2000. While I still prefer white, his advantage is by no means decisive. After 14.Nc3, black goes through a long line of forcing moves;
15.Kc2 Ne4 16.Nxe4 Qxe4 17.Bd3
All the white pieces are actively placed, black’s king still stuck in the center, and the bishop is an eyesore on a6. While the queen is centrally placed, she is becoming more of a liability than an asset.
17…Qxe5
Probably too greedy, though the alternative is not to desirable. However, it seems that black can survive after 17…Qg4 with careful play. In fact, he can gain an advantage with any slip up on white’s part, as white’s king isn’t completely safe either. For example:
When black is simply winning.
Here is the position again after 17…Qxe5 18.Bb2
Again, black’s reply is forced: 18…Qg5
Anything else and white wins without contest:
Black cannot stop the threat of Rd8+, winning.
So, Qg5 and 19.h5
An attempt to get the queen to leave the defense of the g7 pawn, a crucial defender. It also leaves the queen with even less flight squares.
For what it's worth, my engine evaluates this position as -0.62, or an edge for black. I'm sure this is flawed though; once you force it down some of the lines it begins to change it's evaluation.
19…Qh6 20.Re1+ Kf8 21.Rf1
\
Black can defend against mate wit...
Sorry, I got cut off. 🙁
19…Qh6 20.Re1+ Kf8 21.Rf1
\
Black can defend against mate with Qe6 or f6. Unfortunately, white wins the queen after 21…f6 22.Qc5+ Kg7 and 23. Bc1. Therefore, black has no choice but to play 21…Qe6
Here I had two possibilities: The first thing I considered was 22.Qc5. With this move, white initiates a long line of forcing exchanges, but by my calculations, it’s not that great for white. Here is the line I considered:
When I believe black can draw without much trouble.
The line I chose keeps the queens on the board a little longer, and when they are exchanged, blacks position is left permanently cramped.
22.Bf5 Qe7 23.Re1 Qd8 24.Qd4 Qf6 25.Bxd7 Qxd4 26.Bxd4 Bb7 27.h5
The first look at this position would lead most players to believe that black has achieved what he wanted- after all, he has gotten the queens off and he’s still up the exchange and a pawn. It’s not that simple though. Black’s queenside pawn structure is very weak, and the pawns will eventually fall. Furthermore, the black bishop remains cramped for a long time, and getting the kingside rook isn’t going anywhere. While black needs to spend time improving his position and attempting to get the rook out, the white has time to saunter over to the queenside and create two passed pawns. Mostly a positional battle from here, and I believe the game is theoretically lost. Shredder gives this position a score of +0.17 which is considered drawn, but I believe it simply cannot work out all the lines. Watch:
27…Rd8 28.Bc5+ Kg8 29.Re7 Bc8
There are some good tactics lurking in this apparently dull position. Bc8 is forced, or the white bishop goes to e8. For example, if black attempts to free the queen’s rook:
The rook is lost, as it cannot leave the back rank due to Rxc8
Abandoning the pawn is no better:
Back to the game: We were here with white to play. I’ll post the next few moves; they are just a matter of simplifying the position.
The two passed pawns are unstoppable.
Here is the finish:
Black resigns.
A possible finish:
Here is the complete game: Game 7295781
So, where did black go wrong?
This is a matter of opinion, but I believe that 9...Qh4?! is not a good move, and if both sides play well it may even be a losing one. When I say that, I don’t mean that black will lose with perfect play, because he won’t. However, with 9…Qh4, black dedicated himself to a certain plan - a plan that will, in my opinion, almost certainly lose in the long run. To avoid losing, black must backtrack, and play passively. He must not go through with the attack - namely Bxf2+. Instead, he must play somewhat passively with something along the lines of g6, Bg7, and O-O. White will gain a small advantage, but it's not much more that white's initial starting advantage. Of course, if black wants to go down that road, he need not waste a tempo playing 9...Qh4 - he should play 9...g6 immediately. 9...g6 is the main line, along with 9...O-O-O and 9...g5. While 9...Qh4 is a recognized opening line with theory that goes 25 moves deep, and is perfectly playable OTB, I don’t believe it is suitable for cc play. There are many complications that can arise which would be nearly impossible to calculate OTB, but most were not too difficult for me because I have several days to make a move, I can analyze everything on a real board, and I have a book that goes 20 moves deep explaining the many possible plans for each side.
Does this mean 9…Qh4 is busted? Certainly not. One game only shows a small fragment of the possibilities for each side, and in the future, new theory may show a much better line for black, possibly with 17…Qg4. After seeing the possibilities for white in this game, I can say that I don’t foresee myself playing it at any time in the future if given the possibility.
Well, that's it 🙂
I'd be interested in some feedback regarding whether my analysis is at all helpful; it's my first time attempting such a task. Keep in mind my analysis is geared mainly towards players in the 1400-1800 range or so; anyone above that level can probably find the motives and improvements more efficiently than I can. Obviously, one can always go into more detail, but I can only post so much on one page.
I think this is great! I am mostly a flank opening person, except for the King's Gambit, and the Scotch is new territory for me except from early games I've read through.
I think the content is excellent. I prefer prose to lines of analysis, as I like to know what the plans and ideas are so I have background and context when digesting the tactics.
I also think the format and layout is easy to read. Good show!
As a new member to this group I missed this game but enjoyed replaying it and the annotation.
Thank you to the players and especially for the time it takes to annotate.
I for one would really support another of these games. I find the ability to bounce moves off other players very beneficial in understanding chosing "the best move".
Here's hoping in a few months there will be another.
Thanks for the feedback, maybe we can find a stronger player to play such a match against the forum, all you would have to do is ask. I did write the analysis on this game a little hastily, and going back, I see if I do it again, I should spend more time on the long term plans than on the exact variation. I did get one message telling me that my annotation proved beyond a doubt that I was an engine user, don't know how that works.
Anyway, is anyone interested in organizing such a match again?
David Tebb, Atticus, and Northern lad Might be good candidates - but of course it's up to them if they would be interested.
Greenpawn vs the Forum would be good...
Any volunteers?