Annotated chess game: Blitzkreig.

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ANNOTATED GAME

Blitzkreig.
Me (1893) vs. Opponent(CM) (2042)
Annotated by: tiger_lilov (1200)
Chess opening: Petrov (C42), Nimzovich attack

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I just played a few blitz games against several players at an online chess server. I beat all the weaker players, including some class B players and a 1400, but then ran into a fellow expert whom I had played against before a few times. We quickly started a game. I am using my USCF Blitz rating, which is considerably lower than my slow rating, by more than 200 points. Blitz is a different type of chess, as they say. The quality of your play matters is second priority to time control. Lets see exactly what Im talkin about. The time control is Game in 5, no increments :(.I am always used to playing with increments or delays, so this is a different enviroment. By the way, this fellow's USCF rating according to his profile is just above 2000.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3	Really, not much to be said here. I think most would prefer this dynamic move ahead of the duller 5.d4, which is more common, and results more of a slower game, due to the static centre.
	2 comments l-d-j (1747) on 30-Jun-12: I think every Petroff player should be familiar with this line. I was surprised by it once and went down quickly to a kingside attack. tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: In chess, dynamic means faster, which imples more of a tactical or open game. After the other line of 5.d4 d5, the center is static, somewhat blocking in the pieces of both sides. 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 and the center is wide open, allowing the pieces faster movement.By the way, black can get an equality in this line if he knows how. But white has plenty of options to complicate the game, providing both sides with decent chances. Can you post the game in which you lost to a quick kingside assault? Also, although the centre is opened, since black has no way to counterattack there, white is totally justified in using pawns in a flank attack.


5... Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Be6 8. Qd2 Nc6	My opponent has come up with a creative idea, that is at least not mentioned in the theory books of this line. He intends to castle on the long side, and therefore avoids my attack against the kingside.
	2 comments l-d-j (1747) on 30-Jun-12: I think in my game I reached the same position but I still castled short in the end. tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: All I am saying is to use a universal thought process in chess games. With respect to Pogonina, that advice is not helpful since it is obvious and quite vague. Simply do not use random bits of info in games unless you feel that it is helpful AND applies to the current situation.


9. O-O-O Qd7 10. Bb5 a6 11. Be2 O-O-O 12. Kb1	Simply consolidating the castling position. By the way, here is a nice little tip about castling: "Castling Queenside, on average, is slightly better than castling on the kingside. The reason is that activity is the idea of a chess game. By castling long, the rook is activated immediately, since usually the d pawn is advanced. Most cases, the f pawn is not advanced, and it takes extra turn to move the rook to a central file. Many can say that Kb1 takes a tempo too. However, it is not always obligatory, while moving the rook to central file is almost always obligatory.
	2 comments l-d-j (1747) on 30-Jun-12: I also like to castle queenside, but sometimes you just have to get your king to safety and it would take too long to prepare a queenside castle. tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: On Average 000>00 . Obviously in sicilian-open black should castle kingside, since it is much safer. It is an idea I came across by my own actually, but many strong masters, like IM Valeri Lilov, FM Raymond Kaufman have agreed with it, and most masters understand it well. Since chess is all about your army's activity, getting the rook to the central file faster should certainly be better.


12... Bf6 13. Nd4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Qa4	This move is probably a mistake, because it allows me to create weaknesses by taking the f6 bishop.



15. b3 Qa5 16. Bf3	Instead of taking immediately, I simply activate by bishop to better diagonal. The position is equal, and I am satisfied with a draw vs the opponent. I also want to keep it simple, since he has 430, and I am 4.
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: Certainly I am not even close to winning. An "slight edge" would be better suited. This edge is offset by opponent's time ad.


16... Rhe8 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rhe1	White can now focus his attention to the weak target on f6. The white army is very active, but the position is rather quiet.
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: Those pawns are coming under attack sooner or later. Black needs to get rid of them, or find some other counterplay.


18... Bf5 19. Kb2 Re5	This move turns out to be quite a bad one, despite that it looks good. It has a tactical flaw. Now I can take advantage of it and win material. 20.Rxe5, and now the d pawn is pinned, while the taking with the queen lets 21.Re1, getting the file.
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: But if you use that advice in your games, I certainly don't believe it will help you increase your strength. How about calculate your moves before playing them. If black had calculated accurately, he would have seen the variations I mentioned. However, the idea of the quiet move Qg5 winning decisive material is not so easy to detect, since we would not think of a noncheck/capture to win a lot of material. Also, the idea of Bxb7+ would also need to be seen, and this is not the most standard tactical device, so it is also easy to miss. Those factors, plus the blitz time control are the reasons my expert opponent missed the idea. In blitz, we usually don't want to risk calculating at all. In fact, for me, it is usually finding the best move according to general ideas/easier tactics, then checking for safety.


20. Rxe5 fxe5 21. Qg5	black intended to continue his idea, but spent way too little time here. If he had looked at this position a bit longer, he would have noticed he is losing decisive material.



21... Bg6	This move lets me a second option. If a move like 21...Bd7 22.Bxb7+ wins decisively. Now I choose to take the pawns as advantage, since I feel I can march my own pawns up the board.
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: 21...Bd7 22.Bxb7+ Kxb7 23.Qxd8 +-. Alternative.


22. Bg4+ f5 23. Bxf5+ Bxf5 24. Qxf5+ Kb8 25. Qxh7	And indeed, white is winning the game. Unfortunately, the calculations and the checking took too much time(and I had to pick up the phone as well), and now have 59 seconds upon the clock. If there was even a small increment, I would be winning easily. Now it is not so certain.
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: Blitz is good for testing of your general understanding/ your experience. You cannot think harder, since you don't have time, you use a different thought process insteaad.


25... Qc5 26. Rd2 Qc6 27. g4 Qf3 28. g5	My first mistake in time pressure. Now 28...Qf4 wins a pawn. However, my opponent is also playing very fast, and trying to imbalance the game.



28... Qg2 29. g6 Ka7 30. h4	I am going to need a second pawn to help my g pawn.



30... e4 31. h5 e3	Just kept pushing the h pawn up, completely missing the opponent's idea. However, I have a forced win here.
	1 comment tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: Last 2 moves were on premove.


32. fxe3 Qxd2 33. g7 Qg2 34. h6 a5 35. Qh8	This is the clincher, now h7 is coming up, with 2 white queens. I knew I was lost here, due to my 4 seconds.



35... Rxh8 36. gxh8=Q Qh3 37. Qg7 Qxe3 38. h7 a4 39. h8=Q a3+	I lost on time. It was a good game though. And there was only one real mistake one my part in the blitz game, on move 28. But although I lost, I was still very happy about the game as a whole. Really, the only thing you should focus on is the quality of the chess game you played, not the result. If you lose, but played very well, that means you are imporving. If you play badly, and win, sooner or later you will not get so lucky. In this game, the players were stronger than the average opponent. There was really only one mistake made by both sides. Black's only real mistake was letting go of the material(the doubled pawns can be overlooked, since they were difficult to attack, and in blitz, opening lines for your pieces and ignoring structure more or less is a good idea.), and my mistake I mentioned already. His mistake was a bigger one, and I won the position, but lost the game.
	3 comments blitzkov (1200) on 29-Jun-12: good annotation and NOW THIS WAS most likely played against a 2050! l-d-j (1747) on 30-Jun-12: Good game and well done even under time pressure. tiger_lilov (1200) on 30-Jun-12: The ratings on that site are not at all inflated really until u get up to the 2400+ mark. I am around 1800 there for blitz, around 2000 for standard(but that also includes a lot of rapid chess that I play).