Annotated chess game: A learning game for us both!

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ANNOTATED GAME

A learning game for us both!
adui (1176) vs. knightnothorse (1054)
Annotated by: adui (1362)
Chess opening: Queen's pawn (D00), Chigorin variation

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Another of my Chess coaching club games with commentary.

1. d4	One of many choices I normally use in opening. All designed to maximize the particular defensive structure I choose for the game in question, while making attempts to control the center board.



1... d5	(knightnothorse) Howdy! I am Trace, nice to meet you. Good idea, by the way, to do something like this. --> I will go with 1...d5 to counter your opening. (A typical opening response, and a decent one, lets see where we are headed here.)



2. Nc3	I chose the knight because to simply advance my kings pawn to e4 is to give him away. This develops my knight, threatens his pawn, and hopefully allows me to build a good central pawn structure in later moves.
	2 comments elyhim (1200) on 29-Nov-07: when I play queen pawn games I postpone developing the Knight to c3. The disadvantage of playing Nc3 is that you rob yourself of the attacking c4. The C4 idea is useful later when you which to break up your opponent's centre. toiletduck1 (1200) on 04-Jan-08: yes, agreed. I usually play QPG (2. c4) straight away, & then develop my knight.


2... e6	(knightnothorse)I chose my move, e6, because it protects the d5 square, and allows for development of my Kingside bishop. I am definitely one to aim for the early castle, and that is my short-term goal with this move.
	1 comment elyhim (1200) on 29-Nov-07: If your short term goal was to castle early then Nf6 would have been better. You still protect d5 plus you develop another piece. The disadvantage of playing e6 is that you limit the development of your c8 bishop. Also by playing Nf6 you can make white think twice about playing e4.


3. e4 Nf6	And now for the pawn thrust, as it is covered by my knight. Bg5 is a nice thought, but in my mind too easily blocked with a pawn, and therefore a wasted move. (knightnothorse) 3...Nf6 to develop the knight and make way for castling. This also covers the e4 and d5 squares as well. You might capture and start the trades, or just move your pawn down to e5 to threaten knight, bypassing pawn.



4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nh3	(knightnothorse) 4...Nfd7 will move away from your pawn's threat. I at first thought about going to Ne4, but I felt like yes, that would get it more towards the center of the board, but I feel like that move would just shove the knight out there in the open. Like you said, a bit too risky for me. I also at first thought that Nfd7 would clog up the development, perhaps suffocating the Queen side bishop, but that can be remedied in the next few moves, and it is "safer" than Ne4. If I were you, I would have my eye on 5. Nxd5, hoping then for 5...exd5 and then 6. e6 to fork my knight and pawn, and then after I move my knight, you could go for what looks to be a solid pawn move with 7. exf7 not only breaking the h7-f7 pawn wall, but also putting me in check, making me move 7...Kxf7, preventing me from castling, and bringing my king forward, and thus away from safety. Wow...I better watch it! :) (adui) A well thought out plan for me. You are playing my side as well as I, if differently. I chose this to remedy the one flaw in your synopsis. Had I followed your route to its conclusion, that would leave my pawn unguarded at e6. While you would still be forced to brake your king side castle defense up, I would lose my pawn at that point. The Nh3 move allows for a later Ng5, covering that possibility. It also opens up the possibility of taking a different approach with a 7Bg5 checking your Queen. Were I you I would either play Be7 both blocking the potential Queen attack and opening up King side for Castle, or Play Nc6 to develop my other knight. I would probably do both, 5Be7, then 6 Nc6. Follow ups from there are entirely dependent on how the board develops.
	1 comment toiletduck1 (1200) on 04-Jan-08: Better to develop that Knight to f3 (closer to the centre, & Knights work better in the centre because they can control more squares & have a greater influence on the game)


5... Be7	(knightnothorse) Yes, I will go with the 5...Be7 to block any attacks on the queen via the d8-h4 diagonal, as well as threaten the g5 square for a possible knight move. You could then go with 6. Nf4 to threaten my e6 pawn and know that I would probably have to use my f7 pawn to recapture your knight, thus leaving a large hole in my pawn wall.



6. Nf4	I really only considered two options here, Be2 or d3; or this move. I decided this one as it opens several attacking options for me later. I will expound on this as the situation progresses.



6... O-O 7. Bd3 Nc6	(knightnothorse) Develop the knight, and threaten d4. I had considered Bg5 to threaten the knight, but didn't think that would do much - your thoughts on this? Yeah, the knight is threatened, but I can get recaptured...? (adui) Hmm, At this juncture I would likely not have done either move. Bg4 is moot for the reasons you state, and while its just my personal feeling, I will trade a knight for a bishop, but not vice versa as I seethe bishop as the more threatening piece. I think were I you I would have advanced the b or c pawn to row 6, to allow development of your queen and or bishop. This knight move, while giving you the knights power out front, completely blocks the rest of your power on the back row.



8. a3 b6 9. Be3	(knightnothorse) 8. .. b6 to free up room for development of the bishop. I had considered 8. ...Nxd4 and getting a free pawn, but I felt as if I would be shoving him out there unprotected just to get a pawn; not worth it. As for your move, castling doesn't look too bad at this point, or maybe Be3 to develop your black bishop Comment: (adui) While I really should get on about Castling, this I feel is the better move. Develops my bishop and covers that pawn I so foolishly left hanging