24 Mar '12 15:04>3 edits
this guy PhySiQ is not easy to beat!
our 5th game once again lead to a promising position for me
but once again, my opp put up an immaculate defence
[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2012.02.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "watchyourbackrank"]
[Black "PhySiQ"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "E18"]
[WhiteElo "1922"]
[BlackElo "1964"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 {i prefer a queen's indian to a nimzo-indian (3.Nc3 Bb4)} b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O Ne4 8. Bd2 {not the most popular choice but very flexible and not allowing black to compromise the white pawn structure early on..} f5 9. Qc2 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 {considerably stronger than 10.Nxd2 allowing black to exchange bishops and relieve all tension} Bf6 {there's a lot of dynanism in the center. i'm planning e4 sooner or later and black should probably play for e5 pawn break} 11. Rad1 {logical to put the rooks on the central files} d6 12. Rfe1 {pawn e4 is in the air.} Nd7 {black continues his piece development. the anti positional d5 to prevent white's e4 looks very ugly} 13. e4 fxe4 14. Nxe4 {i believe white has a comfortable position. in any case, i liked it! good central control, more space and good pressure in the central files of the board} h6 {probably designed to prevent Ng5 because then the black e6 pawn would be under severe pressure} 15. Re2 {with the very simple plan of doubling in the e-file. the silicon monsters suggest Nfg5 - wow!} Qe7 16. Rde1 Rae8 {black defends his weak e6 pawn. 16...e5 was not possible. it loses a pawn after 17.Nxf6!} 17. d5 {adding pressure on e6 but allowing black to play e5. i was not too proud of this d5 move until i saw he reply from my opp} Be5 {?! i'm sure 17...e5 was better} 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 {black cannot play e5 - it's blockaded by his own piece lol} 19. b3 {simply defending c4 and now dxe6 is a threat} exd5 {risky business. difficult to see any better moves, though} 20. Nc3 {very unpleasant for black. he has to unpin his knight and does so with} Qf7 21. f4 d4 {tricky and bad. the expected Ng6 is objectively better} 22. Nd5 {inaccurate. i thought the critical line was 22.Bxb7 c6 23.fxe5 dxc3 24.Qxc3 Qxb7 25.exd6 - it is indeed critical - for black!} d3 23. Re3 Ng6 {23...c6!} 24. Qxd3 Rxe3 25. Qxe3 {very dominant position for white. and there might even be some tactics involving black's unprotected piece on b7. also note that black cannot exchange on d5 now because the queen would be pinned to the king. perhaps that's why black played} Qd7 26. Qd3 Bxd5 27. Bxd5+ Kh7 {now the point of 26.Qd3! becomes clearer. the knight is pinned to the king!} 28. Re6 {? clearly better was the computer move 28.h4!} Rf6 29. Re2 {i considered the rook exchange. however, i was unsure of the prospects in the endgame even though i no doubt would have the winning chances} Kh8 30. Qe4 {preventing c6 and conserving my excellent light square control} a6 31. h4 Qg4 32. Kh2 {in retrospect i would have prefered to exchange queens on move 31. (Qe8+) Now black's queen is more active and limiting my movement on the kingside} Nf8 {black is struggling to find good squares for his pieces. I'm still in the driving seat, but it's not so easy to find the road to victory. and I didn't notice that black actually sets a trap with this innocent looking knight move} 33. a4 c6 {a clever move. Now 34.Bxc6 fails to Re6! - that was the point of Nf8 from black on the previous move - defending e6 and also d7!} 34. Qf3 Qxf3 35. Bxf3 {is this a winning endgame for white? against a GM the answer is surely no. unless you're a GM yourself, no?} g5 36. Bxc6 gxf4 37. gxf4 Rxf4 38. Kg3 Rd4 {this is a critical point in the game. white has bishop vs knight which is an advantage with pawns on both flanks because of the bishops longer range. it's also a question of piece activity. black's knight is struggling to reach an active square and that should perhaps have lead to me the right move in this position which is 39.h5! The point is (which I over looked in the game) that black cannot grab the pawn on b3: 39...Rd3+ 40.Kg4 Rxb3 41.Kf5! piece activity!} 39. Re3 {too passive!} Ng6 40. Bb7 a5 41. h5 {too late. now the black knight has the nice (and dark!) square e5} Ne5 42. Be4 Kg7 43. Kf4 Kf6 44. Rg3 {around here PhySiQ offered a draw. i rejected. not because i was confident of winning. I guess all chess players have played a game they felt they were winning and after making some mistakes it's not easy to accept that the game is no longer won. most players
play on even if the game is now level. so did I.} Rd2 45. Rg8 {i'm playing at full risk now.} Rh2 46. Rf8+ Ke7 47. Rb8 {trying to create imbalances and setting a small trap} Rh4+ {i was hoping for 47...Rxh5? 48.Rxb6 which i believe gives me remote winning chances. my opp made no mistakes in this ending!} 48. Ke3 Rh3+ 49. Kd4 Rxb3 {my only hope now lies in the h-file} 50. Rh8 Ra3 51. Rxh6 Rxa4 {i'm down a pawn and now i sac a second pawn!} 52. Kd5 {setting another trap} Rxc4 {52...Nxc4? 53.Re6+ Kd7 54.Bf5 is strong because of the threat of a discovered check} 53. Re6+ Kf7 54. Rxd6 Rc6 {again, PhySiQ finds the only defence. This time including a piece sac! i offered a draw because my bishop is of the wrong colour. Even if i managed to pick up his queenside pawns i could not win because h8 (queening square) is dark.} 55. Rxc6 {my opp naturally accepted the draw offer}
our 5th game once again lead to a promising position for me
but once again, my opp put up an immaculate defence
EVENT | Challenge |
SITE | http://www.redhotpawn.com |
DATE | 2012.02.05 |
ROUND | ? |
WHITE | watchyourbackrank |
BLACK | PhySiQ |
RESULT | * |
WHITEELO | 1922 |
BLACKELO | 1964 |
ECO | E18 |
[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2012.02.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "watchyourbackrank"]
[Black "PhySiQ"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "E18"]
[WhiteElo "1922"]
[BlackElo "1964"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 {i prefer a queen's indian to a nimzo-indian (3.Nc3 Bb4)} b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O Ne4 8. Bd2 {not the most popular choice but very flexible and not allowing black to compromise the white pawn structure early on..} f5 9. Qc2 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 {considerably stronger than 10.Nxd2 allowing black to exchange bishops and relieve all tension} Bf6 {there's a lot of dynanism in the center. i'm planning e4 sooner or later and black should probably play for e5 pawn break} 11. Rad1 {logical to put the rooks on the central files} d6 12. Rfe1 {pawn e4 is in the air.} Nd7 {black continues his piece development. the anti positional d5 to prevent white's e4 looks very ugly} 13. e4 fxe4 14. Nxe4 {i believe white has a comfortable position. in any case, i liked it! good central control, more space and good pressure in the central files of the board} h6 {probably designed to prevent Ng5 because then the black e6 pawn would be under severe pressure} 15. Re2 {with the very simple plan of doubling in the e-file. the silicon monsters suggest Nfg5 - wow!} Qe7 16. Rde1 Rae8 {black defends his weak e6 pawn. 16...e5 was not possible. it loses a pawn after 17.Nxf6!} 17. d5 {adding pressure on e6 but allowing black to play e5. i was not too proud of this d5 move until i saw he reply from my opp} Be5 {?! i'm sure 17...e5 was better} 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 {black cannot play e5 - it's blockaded by his own piece lol} 19. b3 {simply defending c4 and now dxe6 is a threat} exd5 {risky business. difficult to see any better moves, though} 20. Nc3 {very unpleasant for black. he has to unpin his knight and does so with} Qf7 21. f4 d4 {tricky and bad. the expected Ng6 is objectively better} 22. Nd5 {inaccurate. i thought the critical line was 22.Bxb7 c6 23.fxe5 dxc3 24.Qxc3 Qxb7 25.exd6 - it is indeed critical - for black!} d3 23. Re3 Ng6 {23...c6!} 24. Qxd3 Rxe3 25. Qxe3 {very dominant position for white. and there might even be some tactics involving black's unprotected piece on b7. also note that black cannot exchange on d5 now because the queen would be pinned to the king. perhaps that's why black played} Qd7 26. Qd3 Bxd5 27. Bxd5+ Kh7 {now the point of 26.Qd3! becomes clearer. the knight is pinned to the king!} 28. Re6 {? clearly better was the computer move 28.h4!} Rf6 29. Re2 {i considered the rook exchange. however, i was unsure of the prospects in the endgame even though i no doubt would have the winning chances} Kh8 30. Qe4 {preventing c6 and conserving my excellent light square control} a6 31. h4 Qg4 32. Kh2 {in retrospect i would have prefered to exchange queens on move 31. (Qe8+) Now black's queen is more active and limiting my movement on the kingside} Nf8 {black is struggling to find good squares for his pieces. I'm still in the driving seat, but it's not so easy to find the road to victory. and I didn't notice that black actually sets a trap with this innocent looking knight move} 33. a4 c6 {a clever move. Now 34.Bxc6 fails to Re6! - that was the point of Nf8 from black on the previous move - defending e6 and also d7!} 34. Qf3 Qxf3 35. Bxf3 {is this a winning endgame for white? against a GM the answer is surely no. unless you're a GM yourself, no?} g5 36. Bxc6 gxf4 37. gxf4 Rxf4 38. Kg3 Rd4 {this is a critical point in the game. white has bishop vs knight which is an advantage with pawns on both flanks because of the bishops longer range. it's also a question of piece activity. black's knight is struggling to reach an active square and that should perhaps have lead to me the right move in this position which is 39.h5! The point is (which I over looked in the game) that black cannot grab the pawn on b3: 39...Rd3+ 40.Kg4 Rxb3 41.Kf5! piece activity!} 39. Re3 {too passive!} Ng6 40. Bb7 a5 41. h5 {too late. now the black knight has the nice (and dark!) square e5} Ne5 42. Be4 Kg7 43. Kf4 Kf6 44. Rg3 {around here PhySiQ offered a draw. i rejected. not because i was confident of winning. I guess all chess players have played a game they felt they were winning and after making some mistakes it's not easy to accept that the game is no longer won. most players
play on even if the game is now level. so did I.} Rd2 45. Rg8 {i'm playing at full risk now.} Rh2 46. Rf8+ Ke7 47. Rb8 {trying to create imbalances and setting a small trap} Rh4+ {i was hoping for 47...Rxh5? 48.Rxb6 which i believe gives me remote winning chances. my opp made no mistakes in this ending!} 48. Ke3 Rh3+ 49. Kd4 Rxb3 {my only hope now lies in the h-file} 50. Rh8 Ra3 51. Rxh6 Rxa4 {i'm down a pawn and now i sac a second pawn!} 52. Kd5 {setting another trap} Rxc4 {52...Nxc4? 53.Re6+ Kd7 54.Bf5 is strong because of the threat of a discovered check} 53. Re6+ Kf7 54. Rxd6 Rc6 {again, PhySiQ finds the only defence. This time including a piece sac! i offered a draw because my bishop is of the wrong colour. Even if i managed to pick up his queenside pawns i could not win because h8 (queening square) is dark.} 55. Rxc6 {my opp naturally accepted the draw offer}