Strategically pleasing game
07 Nov '12 12:063 editsIf the opponent offers keen play I don't object; but in such cases I get less
satisfaction, even if I win, than from a game conducted according to all the rules of
strategy with its ruthless logic. - Anatoly Karpov
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satisfaction, even if I win, than from a game conducted according to all the rules of
strategy with its ruthless logic. - Anatoly Karpov
| EVENT | ?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "118 |
[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "118"] 1. e4 e5 {this is my first attempts to play with ...e5, i have given up the Sicilian, its too double edged and fine if you are a grandmaster, not a grandpatzer} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {and we have a Ruy Lopez on board, one of the most ancient and interesting openings in the history of chess. White has a number of strategic ideas, set up a strong centre and use it for a kingside attack, generally by playing c3 and d4 and putting a knight on either d5 or f5, black will typically seek counter play in the centre and on the queenside and try to thwart whites plans} a6 {I had toyed with the idea of the Berlin ... Nf6 but I wanted to try the closed Lopez which I knew from studying Fischers games on my little magnetic computer, ELO 1400} 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 {forced, white really was threatening to win the e5 pawn} 7. Bb3 d6 8. h3 O-O 9. c3 {so far so book} Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 {and here we have the culmination of whites opening strategy, central domination by means of c3 and d4, how cunning! Its important not to be induced to give up the centre with cxd4 at this point, which has been played, but appears to me to be erroneous, strategically} Qc7 12. d5 {an interesting moment, white chooses to keep the centre closed! I dont think that the move is strategically advantageous for white, because as we stated, one of the ideas is to occupy either d5 or f5 with a piece, usually a knight which comes in via e3, this essentially solves one of blacks strategic problems, i will never need to worry about a piece on d5} c4 {The consequence of d5 in turn now means I can claim the c5 square for my knight, attempting to try to put pressure on the white centre, is it real pressure? well hard to say, d3 square and e4 pawn are potentially weak and the c pawn hinders the advancement of the b pawn, which if it ever tries to breakout, will leave the c file open} 13. Nbd2 {Strategically this knight will go to f1 and either e3 and f5 or g3 and f5, now that d5 is unavailable, i knew this and had planned to play g6, which meant rearranging my pieces, Re8... , ...Bf8 preparing to fianchetto after ...g6} Nb7 14. Nf1 {there he goes} Nc5 15. Ng3 Re8 {the beginning of my strategic plan to deal with Nf5} 16. Be3 { this is of course is whites so called , good bishop', was he really willing to exchange it for a knight} Bd7 {I am not really sure what to do with this bishop, we are still in book and i have been following a game, Bellini v Krzyotov, 1979, i dont want to commit my bishop to b7 in-case I need it to guard f5} 17. Qd2 {I perceived this as an attempt to thwart my plan of ...g6, and ...Bf8 and ...Bg7, how cunning} Bc8 {a waiting move, waiting to see what white shall do with his knight} 18. Nf5 {and there it is, the culmination of white strategy, he hopes to use the extra space kingside space for an attack on blacks king, gulp! but, it needed preparation, the text move gives up material and the initiative to black} Nfxe4 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Bxe4 Nxe4 21. Qd1 f5 {the idea is to play f4 locking down on the g pawn and blunting the dark squared bishop and generate play down the g file} 22. Nd2 Nf6 23. Bg5 h6 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 25. Nf3 Qg6 26. Nh2 f4 {pretty obvious threat} 27. Kh1 Bf5 { again this bishop is causing me problems, I am not really sure where to put it, its clear that the d5 pawn is virtually isolated because of its advanced position, but i don't want to commit to Bb7} 28. Qd2 Rac8 {with ideas of ... Rc5 and ...Be4, pressuring the hapless d pawn} 29. f3 {curses! thwarting my cunning plan} Rc5 {I play it anyway, because i realise that i can interpose a piece breaking up the communication between the queen and the d pawn, with ... Bd3} 30. Rad1 Bd3 31. Qf2 Rec8 {why not take it right away? i was afraid of the queen penetrating into my position along the g1 a7 diagonal and had planned at least to hold my position up with ...Qe8 if after ...Rxd5, something like Qb6} 32. Nf1 Rxd5 33. Nd2 Bc2 {this was a silly idea, here I planned to sac the exchange after the rook moved, for it seemed that a knight was more suited to this position than a rook, on further reflection, I could simply exchange the knight, as my opponent pointed out, I was material ahead and had no need of sacking the exchange, perhaps its a thinking deficiency on my part} 34. Rc1 Bf5 35. Ne4 Bxe4 36. Rxe4 Rdc5 {still afraid of the queen} 37. Rd1 Rf8 38. Qd2 Rf6 39. b4 {a very risky try} cxb3 40. axb3 Qf7 41. b4 { white now has two potential weaknesses, the c3 pawn and the g2 pawn} Rc6 42. Qb2 Qc7 43. Ra1 d5 {defending the a pawn with tempo, although i am not sure if it really helps} 44. Re2 Rxc3 45. Ree1 d4 {yay! an uncontested passed pawn} 46. Rad1 Rc4 47. Re4 Qd6 48. Rb1 Rg6 49. Qa2 {white is attempting to restrict the mobility of my pieces, pinning the rook} Kh7 50. Qd2 {here i think my opponent rather amusingly stated that one of my pawns must die, but could not find a way to kill them, I was thinking exactly the same thing and although black is three pawns up, it certainly doesn't feel like it} Rg5 51. Rb3 Qc7 52. Qd3 {I have a cunning plan, its apparent that in order to take advantage of my not so apparently felt material advantage, i will need to simplify, planning .. .Rc1+ and ...Qc2, threatening mate and forcing an exchange of queens} Rc1+ 53. Re1+ Kh8 54. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 55. Kh2 {c2 is not now possible, but c4 is} Qc4 56. Qb1 Qe2 57. Rb2 {and this was a decisive mistake and i had seen the position in my analyses and concluded that Qg1 was the only move, a real pity for it had been such an exhilarating game, my opponent playing excellently under the circumstances in my opinion} Rxg2+ 58. Kh1 Qxb2 59. Qf1 Rc2 {and mate cannot be avoided or material loss. One of the most enjoyable games I have played, strategically rich and exhilarating at times} 0-1
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