The power of minor pieces
29 Nov '10 10:26I sacrificed my queen for rook and knight, with only positional compensation, in the attached game, after overlooking a simple knight move by my opponent. However he never recovered from his lack of development and I won a very proud game in the end! (And it makes up for my ignominious defeat in our other match...)
| EVENT | November 2010 Sprint Split IV |
| SITE | http://www.chessatwork.com |
| DATE | 2010.11.11 |
| ROUND | 1 |
| WHITE | Jack Bertram |
| BLACK | Fnugbatter |
| RESULT | 1-0 |
| WHITEELO | 1949 |
| BLACKELO | 1926 |
[Event "November 2010 Sprint Split IV"]
[Site "http://www.chessatwork.com"]
[Date "2010.11.11"]
[EndDate "2010.11.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Jack Bertram"]
[Black "Fnugbatter"]
[WhiteRating "1949"]
[BlackRating "1926"]
[WhiteELO "1949"]
[BlackELO "1926"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "7917724"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nb1c3 Nb8c6 3. g3 d6 4. Bf1g2 g6 5. d3 Bf8g7 6. Bc1e3 {Can be premature until we know where Black's king-side knight is going...} e6 {...but it's going to e7 so all is luckily well.} 7. Qd1d2 a6 8. h4 {Black's setup is quite slow... let's inject some pace} h5 9. Ng1f3 {Now let's head back to open lines and blast open the centre} Ng8e7 10. d4 cxd4 11. Nf3xd4 O-O 12. O-O-O {This underestimates the strength of Black's next move. An immediate f4 was an alternative.} Nc6e5 {! Threatening ...Nc4. Black has equalised} 13. Be3h6 {?! Valour is the better part of discretion. But White's development is better and Black's queenside will take a few moves to activate. Objectively unsound} Ne5c4 14. Bh6xg7 {?! The fun begins...} Nc4xd2 15. Bg7xf8 Kg8xf8 16. Rd1xd2 Bc8d7 {If Black can get developed, he is easily winning} 17. Rh1d1 {Some possible tricks connected with e6 may emerge...} Ne7c8 {? Black is worried about the battery on the d-file, but further delays queen-side development.} 18. f4 {Preparing to open the centre} Ra8b8 19. f5 e5 {fxe5 was definitely worth considering. This move doesn't ease Black's development, though it does force White to try another idea} 20. Nd4f3 Qd8e8 {Preventing Nxe5} 21. Nc3d5 {Lots of holes on Black's dark squares} Bd7c6 22. Nd5f6 Qe8e7 23. Nf6h7 {Too much to hope for ...Kg7 to follow...} Kf8e8 24. Nf3g5 {?? This move is a straightforward blunder - in tactical calculations I just overlooked that you can't reverse the order of fxg6 and Nfg5} f6 {Winning another piece.} 25. fxg6 {White's compensation is a dangerous g-pawn and an open f-file} fxg5 26. Rd1f1 Qe7g7 27. Rd2f2 {I couldn't see any way of saving the passed pawn after Rf8+, so called in reinforcements. But Black's queen is now isolated.} Qg7xg6 28. Rf2f8 Ke8e7 29. Nh7xg5 Bc6e8 {Defending against Rf7+} 30. Rf8h8 {Threatening Rh7+. Black's queen will fall} Nc8b6 31. Bg2h3 {Closing off escape routes} Nb6d7 32. Bh3f5 Qg6f6 33. Rh8h7 {A forced sequence begins} Ke7d8 34. Ng5e6 Kd8c8 35. Ne6f8 Qf6d8 36. Nf8xd7 {In retrospect Bxd7 might have been better.} Be8xd7 37. Rh7xd7 Qd8xd7 38. c3 {White now establishes a winning endgame} b5 39. Kc1c2 Kc8c7 40. Bf5xd7 Kc7xd7 41. Rf1f5 Rb8g8 42. Rf5g5 Rg8xg5 43. hxg5 Kd7e6 44. b4 {White can establish a queenside passed pawn too fast...} Ke6f7 45. c4 Kf7g6 46. c5 {Black resigned.} 1-0
[Site "http://www.chessatwork.com"]
[Date "2010.11.11"]
[EndDate "2010.11.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Jack Bertram"]
[Black "Fnugbatter"]
[WhiteRating "1949"]
[BlackRating "1926"]
[WhiteELO "1949"]
[BlackELO "1926"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "7917724"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nb1c3 Nb8c6 3. g3 d6 4. Bf1g2 g6 5. d3 Bf8g7 6. Bc1e3 {Can be premature until we know where Black's king-side knight is going...} e6 {...but it's going to e7 so all is luckily well.} 7. Qd1d2 a6 8. h4 {Black's setup is quite slow... let's inject some pace} h5 9. Ng1f3 {Now let's head back to open lines and blast open the centre} Ng8e7 10. d4 cxd4 11. Nf3xd4 O-O 12. O-O-O {This underestimates the strength of Black's next move. An immediate f4 was an alternative.} Nc6e5 {! Threatening ...Nc4. Black has equalised} 13. Be3h6 {?! Valour is the better part of discretion. But White's development is better and Black's queenside will take a few moves to activate. Objectively unsound} Ne5c4 14. Bh6xg7 {?! The fun begins...} Nc4xd2 15. Bg7xf8 Kg8xf8 16. Rd1xd2 Bc8d7 {If Black can get developed, he is easily winning} 17. Rh1d1 {Some possible tricks connected with e6 may emerge...} Ne7c8 {? Black is worried about the battery on the d-file, but further delays queen-side development.} 18. f4 {Preparing to open the centre} Ra8b8 19. f5 e5 {fxe5 was definitely worth considering. This move doesn't ease Black's development, though it does force White to try another idea} 20. Nd4f3 Qd8e8 {Preventing Nxe5} 21. Nc3d5 {Lots of holes on Black's dark squares} Bd7c6 22. Nd5f6 Qe8e7 23. Nf6h7 {Too much to hope for ...Kg7 to follow...} Kf8e8 24. Nf3g5 {?? This move is a straightforward blunder - in tactical calculations I just overlooked that you can't reverse the order of fxg6 and Nfg5} f6 {Winning another piece.} 25. fxg6 {White's compensation is a dangerous g-pawn and an open f-file} fxg5 26. Rd1f1 Qe7g7 27. Rd2f2 {I couldn't see any way of saving the passed pawn after Rf8+, so called in reinforcements. But Black's queen is now isolated.} Qg7xg6 28. Rf2f8 Ke8e7 29. Nh7xg5 Bc6e8 {Defending against Rf7+} 30. Rf8h8 {Threatening Rh7+. Black's queen will fall} Nc8b6 31. Bg2h3 {Closing off escape routes} Nb6d7 32. Bh3f5 Qg6f6 33. Rh8h7 {A forced sequence begins} Ke7d8 34. Ng5e6 Kd8c8 35. Ne6f8 Qf6d8 36. Nf8xd7 {In retrospect Bxd7 might have been better.} Be8xd7 37. Rh7xd7 Qd8xd7 38. c3 {White now establishes a winning endgame} b5 39. Kc1c2 Kc8c7 40. Bf5xd7 Kc7xd7 41. Rf1f5 Rb8g8 42. Rf5g5 Rg8xg5 43. hxg5 Kd7e6 44. b4 {White can establish a queenside passed pawn too fast...} Ke6f7 45. c4 Kf7g6 46. c5 {Black resigned.} 1-0
Back to Top