Annotated chess game: A gamefor fun

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ANNOTATED GAME

A gamefor fun
pretz (1306) vs. ifuinsist (1403)
Annotated by: pretz (1200)
Chess opening: Canard opening (A45)

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I decided to start annotating my games for my own edification, with the assistance of ChessBase Lite's Fritz engine. Comments are quite welcome.

1. d4 Nf6 2. f4 d5 3. e3	The Stonewall Attack- I've only studied this and the Sicilian Dragon openings thoroughly, and that's simply because they were both featured in Reinfeld and Horowitz's "How to Think Ahead in Chess". I like the Stonewall because you can follow your script pretty much disregarding what black is doing, and also because I've got a decent grasp on what I'm supposed to do during the midgame. However, this game shows how cramped white's queenside pieces can be with the Stonewall.
	2 comments ifuinsist (1932) on 15-Feb-08: Two lines possibles for Black here : 1. instead of 2...d5, just play 2...c5 followed by b6, and then play the double fianchetto with Black without pushing d5. Perhaps better for White is to play the 1.d4/2.e3/3.Bd3 move order and then play 4.f4 if Black plays d5 2. here 3...Bf5 is extremely solid and logical, perhaps a little drawish. Another case in point, perhaps, for 1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.Bd3 move order. chesskingdom64 (1100) on 15-Feb-11: This is the Canard opening.


3... c5 4. c3 Qc7	4...Bg4 would have been better.
	1 comment ifuinsist (1932) on 15-Feb-08: Yes, and after, 5.Nf3 also, very solid but not quite aggressive.<br> The idea of Black here is to maintain maximum flexibility, by playing "sensible moves" like Qc7 and g6 (can be a support for Bf5, not a place for Bg7 necessarily) waiting how to react to White minor pieces development.


5. Nf3 g6 6. Ne5	One of the characteristic moves of the Stonewall, and a good one at that. I'm in good position, particularly in the center, but I don't know what to do with black's soon-to-be fianchetto'ed position. My usual plans call for a subsequent Bd3 and then sacrificing the bishop at h7, but since that's out of the question I should have worked to further control the center and to develop my queen's knight.
	3 comments fourknightsgame (1200) on 15-Feb-08: Ne5 seems a bit early here. It does allow you to play g4 in hopes of a pawn storm on Black's King but it seems kinda soon to move the knight. Maybe Be2 and then 0-0 was better. marinvukusic (2161) on 15-Feb-08: Usually I wait until I have the other Knight on d2 before playing Ne5. That way I can quickly reinforce with Ndf3, giving myself another retaking option on e5. ifuinsist (1932) on 15-Feb-08: The best disposition here for White pieces is Ne5, Bd3, Qe2, b3, Bb2, Nbd2, then at one time or another c3-c4 push. The Ne5 at least protects the f4 pawn in case of cxd4 while the other Knight is on d2.


6... Bg7 7. Bb5+	This seemed a bit unnecessary, especially since black could either walk into a very temporary pin with his knight or attempt to trade off my good bishop. In this setup, my good bishop is good, but my bad bishop is very bad.



7... Nc6 8. Na3	I said to myself, "I need to develop my queen's knight and protect my bishop". However, as everyone knows, knights don't like being on the edge of the board, and my bishop can be easily run off with pawns. Developing the knight to d2 and then f3 would have been better.



8... O-O 9. O-O Bf5	Although the chess engine likes 9...Rd8, I thought this was a good developing move by black, who now has two strong bishops.



10. dxc5	And this is where things went very wrong. I desperately wanted to develop my "bad" black-squared bishop... but when your pawns end up in a "postal stamp" configuration, you know it's bad news. 10. c4 would have been a much better move.
	1 comment ifuinsist (1932) on 15-Feb-08: Never take the c pawn with a Stonewall structure. Perhaps retreating Bishop on e2, developping the other one by Bc1-d2-e1-h4 and recycling the Knight by a3-c2-e1 then f3 or d3 (if white-squared bishop exchanged.)


10... Nxe5 11. fxe5 Ne4	Black wisely declined to take the e5 pawn with his queen (it wasn't going anywhere) and got his knight in a strong position while freeing his bishop to take the e5 pawn and link up with the queen on the long diagonal.



12. Qxd5 Bxe5 13. Bc4	I'm in big trouble, and probably should have resigned at this point. 13. h3 gets me 13...Bxh3 14. gxh3...Bh2 or 13....Bh2 . Moving to g2 puts the g pawn under attack by the knight, the bishop, and the queen. I figured I would just put some pressure on black's f7 on the outside chance of 13....R(f8)d8?.



13... Bxh2+ 14. Kh1 Qg3 15. Rf3 Qh4 16. Rxf5 Ng3#	I lost this game with positional errors more than tactical ones, and with fine play by my opponent. I should have kept the center locked up and secured for myself instead of trying to develop everyone to go on the attack at once.
	1 comment chesskingdom64 (1100) on 15-Feb-11: that's okay. We all lose games around here. Beside, what are games without losses?