Annotated chess game: A Tourny To Annotate!

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ANNOTATED GAME

A Tourny To Annotate!
tigerzrul88 (1459) vs. tag1153 (1467)
Annotated by: tigerzrul88 (1905)
Chess opening: Caro-Kann (B18), classical variation

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1. e4

This game comes from a mini-tournament that I created. The positions that came out of the games between tag1153 and I were all very interesting, and I will be annotating both of our games. I hope to annotate games from this tournament that don't involve me, so watch for them! And as always, if you see any errors, in logic or in spelling, don't hesitate to contact me!

1... c6 2. d4 d5

The Caro-Kann defense.

3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Nc3

Here White has played a small inaccuracy. The proper move is 5. Ng3, which attacks the Bishop and ensures that Black can't powerfully establish his Bishop on f5 with e6.

5... e6

Black's Bishops are now ready to criss-cross White's position with pins. White should seriously consider playing a3 to cut down Black's dark-squared Bishop's scope.

6. Nf3 Bb4

There's the first pin.

7. Bd2 Nd7

This Knight is surprisingly strong here. It's not going to lead any mating attacks right away, but it controls the center and allows Black to play ...c5 or ...e5 later. Coupled with a Knight on f6, Black has a strong grip on the center.

8. Bc4

A truly pathetic move for the Bishop. All this does is clear the way for White to castle. So far, Black is doing a good job of nurturing his advantage into something larger. Black is slowly placing a stranglehold on the center, and leaving White cramped. Black can play ...b5 whenever he wants, or even Nb6, which adds support to the future idea of blockading the d-pawn.

8... Ngf6 9. a3

White needs to gain space and get rid of the pin. If he waits around much longer, Black will start taking aim at his favorite targets and White will have to keep making less than satisfactory moves like Bc4.

9... Bxc3

I think it would have been better for Black to play 9. ...Ba5, and if 10. b4 Bb6. This way Black keeps tension in the center, and can continue to nurture his small advantage (at 9. a3 Fritz estimates Black's advantage as about 1/10 of a pawn but after ...Bxc3 at 0).

10. Bxc3 O-O

The tension is suddenly gone from the center. White can finally take a short breath.

11. O-O c5

There's the push to c5 that I was talking about earlier. However, now that the tension's out of the center, it feels kind of empty.

12. h3

All this does is protect against the pin on the Knight, but there are better ways of dealing with this once it arrives. Better was 12. dxc5.

12... Ne4 13. Be1

This is getting a bit out of hand. White is making odd moves all over the place. This on was just to hold on to his precious Bishop pair. Of course, there's no point in ruining your position to save an intangible advantage like that.

13... a6 14. Nh4

White just loses a piece after 14. ...Qxh4 15. f3 Ng3. The worst bit is that it seems to stem from his obsession with Bishops.

14... Nd6

Black misses it, maybe now White will get his act together.

15. Ba2

The Bishop fever seems to have White hopelessly trapped.

15... Qxh4 16. dxc5 Bxc2

Black finds a way to even up the score. However, after the Queen recaptures the Bishop, if White can reorganize his Bishops, he will be much better than Black.

17. Qxc2 Nf5 18. b4

White attempts to clear some space for his Bishops to roam.

18... Nd4

Black's Knight takes advantage of a great square in the White camp. If Black can play e5, this Knight could be detrimental. White will want to try and trade a Bishop for this Knight.

19. Qd3

White prepares the Bishop trade, unfortunately, he didn't see Black's idea of ...Ne5! making the Black Knights even better.

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