Annotated chess game: An Anti-Sicilian Miniature

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ANNOTATED GAME

An Anti-Sicilian Miniature
cliang (1945) vs. wotwu (1730)
Annotated by: cliang (1723)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B22), 2.c3, Heidenfeld variation

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I should probably begin by saying that I have no intention of condoning this opening. It's generally something I use only against weaker players in blitz to take them out of theory early.

1. e4 c5 2. c3	Alapin's Variation. The most popular responses are 2... Nf6 and 2... d5 since it strikes at the undefended e-pawn, to which white cannot respond with the natural Nc3 as defense.



2... Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 Nc6	Black delays cxd4. In sound lines, black eventually gets the opportunity to play it, but I decide to deviate in order to take advantage of black's non-committal 4th move.



5. c4	Here's where my position could start to crumble; however, there are only two games in the world database and one game in the Gameknot database with this position, so my opponent is pretty much on his own when it comes to opening theory. 5... Qa5 and 5... Ndb4 are both good responses to this speculative pawn push.



5... Ndb4	Well, so far so good for black.



6. d5 Nxe5	Looks like black can't continue on the best path. The intentional pawn sacrifice will allow white large amounts of space, which provide free development and a half-open e-file to play with, which provides full compensation for the pawn. A better response for black was 6... Nd4 taking the positional advantage instead of the material one.



7. f4 Ng6 8. a3	Trying to send both knights into uncomfortable positions.



8... Na6	8... Qa5 is worth a try, forcing white to complete development on the queen side before the knight gets kicked.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 09-Jan-09: This reminds me a little of a game Petrosian-Tal (Curacao, 1962), in which Black also lost control of his knights early on. The opening in that game, though, was completely different: a Reti.


9. Nf3 d6	Necessary before being able to attack white's center with the e6 push. It also has the nice benefit of giving the light-square bishop some potential square to develop.



10. Bd3	Threatening to ruin black's king side with a capture on g6. At this point, you can see how white's compensation is realized. Black's pieces are tied down, struggling to develop, and his knights are more of liabilities than assets.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 09-Jan-09: Although I agree that Black's knights present a sorry picture, I rather think Black would rather welcome the exchange on g6. At any rate, there isn't much he can do about it...


10... e6 11. dxe6 Qf6	Giving the pawn back in order to keep a relatively stable king side.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 09-Jan-09: Noticing that neither recapture looks very appealing: 11...Bxe6 12.f5; 11...fxe6 12.Bxg6+. But is the latter so bad? Black's K-side gets broken up, and his central majority is under some restraint, but he emerges with the bishop pair (for what that might be worth), and the off-side knight will soon rejoin the action. I think I would have given it serious consideration, at least (which is not to say Black didn't, of course!).


12. exf7+ Qxf7 13. O-O	More of an attacking move than a defensive one in this situation, and Ng5 becomes a real threat. If (13... Be7 14. Ng5), capturing the knight seems like suicide with open e- and f-files against the uncastled king. Better is to leave the Ng5 alone in this situation, but forget ideas about castling king side. 13... h6 with the idea of preventing Ng5 will eventually leave the black king stuck in the center after the simple 14. Re1 . Possible continuations involve (14.... Be7 15. Qe2 Nf8 16. Nc3 Nc7) with a strong attack or (14... Ne7 15. Be4) simply restraining black's king and queen sides.



13... Be7 14. Ng5 Qf6	Probably the correct plan.



15. Nc3	Surprisingly, this move prevents black from king-side castling, as the text will show.
	1 comment blake84120 (1200) on 08-Jan-09: Whever a Knight is played to either bishop's 3rd square, the immediate evaluation the opponent must consider is what happens when it makes its next move. There are only 3 moves that advance toward the defender's position (the edge of the board and retreating backward are rarely threats to the opponent, particularly early in the game - but don't totally overlook these possibilities). So evaluate at least those three squares before deciding on your move. Black should have seen immediately that 16. Nd5 would leave his queen with nowhere useful to run.


15... O-O	?? 15... Bf5 with the idea of queen-side castling holds better for black. Castling into where all of white's pieces are directed loses on the spot.
	1 comment blake84120 (1200) on 08-Jan-09: It's worth noting that before black played this move, black had one of the pawns in front of his king's castle position already en prise, and white's bishop on d3 was a huge threat (especially if black followed my advice about evaluating where that recently developed knight can move next, in which case he will realize that his knight at g6 must become his bishop's only defender). And white's queen is one move away from joining the attack. Black should have thought long and hard about castling into this meat-grinder. And if he had, he should have seen the error of his ways before he played this move.


16. Nd5	The queen-side knight springs into action.



16... Qd4+	The only spot for the black queen... with tempo!



17. Be3	...sort of. This move forces black to waste one very valuable tempo.
	1 comment blake84120 (1200) on 08-Jan-09: Here, it's not the tempo that gets him; it's the position. Black's queen is under attack and must move or be lost, but she has no moves that place her in a position to defend against the upcoming massacre.


17... Qxb2 18. Nxe7+	Black resigns. (18... Nxe7 19. Bxh7 Kh8 20. Qh5) is overwhelming.