Annotated chess game: Challenge from bittersweet_ballad

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ANNOTATED GAME

Challenge from bittersweet_ballad
ionadowman (1954) vs. bittersweet_ballad (1853)
Annotated by: bittersweet_ballad (1200)
Chess opening: French (C19), Winawer, advance, poisoned pawn variation

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1. e4	A very interesting game, involving an exchange sacrifice on move 20. A similar game can be found here: http://gameknot.com/anbd.pl?bd=6346016&fb=1&rnd=0.6536950532319957



1... e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 O-O 8. Bd3 Nbc6 9. Qh5 Ng6 10. Nf3 Qc7 11. Be3	I am not sure whether this is book or not. However, the c3 square for white is weak, and I would have considered Bd2 a better move. This would have given white the ability to save a tempo protecting the c3 square when attacked by black; and an attack on this square seems almost inevitable, because of it's weakness.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: 11.Be3 keeps watch and ward over d4, which is also an important consideration. Other possibilities exist here, e.g. 11.0-0. But I had already made up my mind on some kind of attack involving the advance of the K-side pawns, and felt that a rook was needed on the h-file. With 0-0, White has other ends in view, for which Bd2 might well be an improvement over Be3.


11... c4 12. Bxg6 fxg6 13. Qg4 Bd7 14. h4	white has probably decided not to castle. probably looking to open the h file and pile up on it.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 15-Jun-07: I certainly had decided not to castle, envisaging the king finding reasonable security on d2, and bringing both rooks onto the h-file. Probably an overambitious plan as it transpired. The Queen's rook never leaves a1 alive...


14... Rf5 15. h5 gxh5 16. Rxh5 Rxh5 17. Qxh5 Rf8 18. Ng5	When white played this, this move looked very weak. The N has to go back anyway after h6. Also, inducing black to move the h-pawn to a dark square doesn't seem right, considering that white has a dark-squared bishop. However, white's 24th move, Bxh6 would not have been effective at winning the h-pawn had white not played 18.Ng5. So as it turns out, Ng5 probably did pay off, but was the aim similar to what it helped white achieve?
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: The move doesn't so much suck, as induce the h-pawn forward, giving White something to aim at. The weakness at g6 turns out to be quite important. It was in my view worth 2 tempi to induce this weakening.


18... h6 19. Nf3 Be8	In retrospect, I think Qa5 should have been played. Or maybe even Qb6. They both lead to interesting attacks on white's weak queen side.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: After 19...Qa5 White can choose between 20.Bd2 and 20.Kd2. Against the latter, Black has to unhinge White's c3 by advancing his Q-flank pawns, but the connected rooks are a help to White. If instead 20.Bd2 Qa4 21.Ra2 and it's not so easy for Black to find a way to progress. White has to watch for possible exchange sacrifices at f3 though - something of a theme in this game... A possible continuation is this possible line (not that I saw any of this at the time...): 19...Qa5 20.Bd2 Qb6 21.Rc1 Qb2 ... at this point, barring the a-pawn, White's Q-side looks secure enough, at the expense of his attack ... 22.Bxh6! Rxf3! 23.Qxf3 [23.gxf3 probably leads straight to the draw after 23...gxh6 24.Qg6 Kf8 25.Qf6 Ke8 26.Qh8 Ke7 27.Qf6 ] 23...gxh6 24.Qf4 (Kh7 25.Kd2 Qxa3 26.Rh1 when Black finds ...Qf8 not playable). After 19...Qb6, I like Kd2, offhand... bittersweet_ballad (1200) on 14-Mar-07: after 19..Qa5 20.Kd2: instead of unhinging the white c3 pawn by advancing the Q-side pawns, another idea black can prsue is to play a6, and then bring in the N to b5 through a7. After 20.Bd2 Qa4 21.Ra2 black may play 21..Qb5 forcing the white rook back to a1 (otherwise 22..Qb1, winning the rook) and then 22..Qb2 23.Rc1. The position is now the same as in Ionadowman's line [19...Qa5 20.Bd2 Qb6 21.Rc1 Qb2], except that it is white's turn to move. This additional tempo seems decisive (white can deal with whatever problems he may have on the kingside,and then march on on the Q side). Perhaps 21.Kd1 is a better defence than Ra2.


20. Qh3 Rxf3	!? The idea behind this exchange sacrifice is that in this position minor pieces would be able to exert more influence than the clumsy rook. White's rook doesn't move at all from it's home square. On the other hand the knight could have exerted quite a lot of influence.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: Something of a surprise at the time: I didn't think this was all that playable. But as the game progressed, it became clear Black has plenty of resource...


21. Qxf3	At the time I played Rxf3, I considered gxf3 to be better for white.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: Don't recall that I really considered 21.gxf3, It does open up the g-file for the rook - if it ever gets to the g-file, but it seemed to cut the queen off from the centre, and make the possible break at f4 a little harder to realise. Maybe it is better, but these somewhat subjective considerations led to my preference for 21.Qxf3


21... Bg6 22. Kd2	!



22... Qb6 23. Qg4 Bxc2	Another possiblity was 23..Ne7. An interesting position arose after this line in my analysis: 24.Kc1 Bxc2 25.Bxh6 Nf5 26.Bd2 Qb3 27.g3?? White's last move is a terrible mistake. Although white had a considerable advantage at first, now the best white can do is play for a draw. Heres why: 27..Nxd4! 28.cxd4 c3! Now white is forced to play 29.Qxe6 and keep black in perpetual check so as to avoid a major loss of material. For example, the only other move which does not allow mate is 29.Bxc3. This would be followed by 29..Bf5 (but not Qxc3, which allows 30.Qxe6 draw) 30.Qxf5 Qxc3 31.Qc2 Qxa1 and black is winning. However, if white had played almost anything other than 27.g3, like 27.a4, then 27..Nxd4 would not have worked, because 28.cxd4 c3 29.Qxe6 Kh7 30.Qh3, and white simply takes on c3 on his next move, leaving black in ruins.
	2 comments bittersweet_ballad (1200) on 15-Mar-07: No, I don't think 28.Qxd4 would work, because of 28..Bh7, with am unstoppable mate at c2. archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Dec-12: Although I don't think I would have played it in response to 23...Ne7, 24.Kc1 is not a bad move, by the look. After the line described in the analysis, bittersweet_ballad calls 27.g3 a mistake. Now, though it is a plausible move, I would look first at something like 27.Qf4 with a view to chasing the knight off with 28.g4, or maybe the counterattack with 27.Qg6 (which seems practically to guarantee the draw, if White wants to bale out). But after 27.g3?! Nxd4, White has 28.Qxd4! instead of the mistaken 28.cxd4?, whence I can't see how Black can make good the rook deficit. [As bittersweet_ballad has pointed out since I wrote all this, 28.Qxd4?? loses at once after all!! This in turn indicates that 27.Qf4? isn't very good either, since the counterplay suggested by the annotator after 27.a4 (say) hinged on the White queen's access to e6. The mate threat brought on by ...Bd6 or some other retreat along that diagonal also suggests that the queen must have quick access to d1, so for the nonce, g4 is where she stays, or maybe 27.Qf3 also with the idea of 28.g4]


24. Bxh6	This is what I refered to in my analysis of 18.Ng5. Had white not played 18.Ng5, black would not have played h6, and the capture of the pawn with the bishop on this move would not have been possible. Was this foresight, or simply luck? I can't say.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 15-Mar-07: Luck ... sort of. I certainly had not foreseen this line specifically, and though at move 18 this capture was foreseen in broad terms as a future possibility, it was not as a defensive measure! Though indeed here, 24.Bxh6 is a counterattack, rather than a defence. It so happened, I looked more at the consequences of capturing on c2 (24.Kxc2 Qb3 25.Kc1 Qxc3 26.Kb1 Qe1 [Black can force a draw here with 26.Qb3 ] 27.Kb2 c3 28.Kb3 Qxa1 29.Qxe6 etc is a possible line. But Black seemed to have at least a draw. I also glanced at 24.Qxe6 , but Black has in response some nasty attacking chances based on the light squares around the White King: 24.Qxe6 Kh7 25.Qxd5?? Qb2 26.Rc1 Be4 (- ); or 24.Qxe6 Kh7 25.Rc1 Qb2 threatening 26...Bf5 . White would probably have to jump ship with 24.Qxe6 Kh7 25.Kxc2 Qb3 26.Kd2 Qb2 27.Kd1 Qxa1 28.Bc1 ... The move played, 24.Bxh6 seemed to offer the best winning chance.


24... Bg6	forced



25. Qxg6 Qb2+	forced. black is now looking to draw at best
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: Agreed. Black would get little joy out of 25...Qc7 26.Qxe6 when he is left a rook short.


26. Kd1 Qxa1+ 27. Ke2 Qb2+ 28. Bd2 Kf8	The e-pawn cannot be saved. This move (followed by Ne7) was played to save atleast the d-pawn.



29. Qxe6 Ne7 30. f3	robs black's queen of the e4 square where it could potentially end up to harass white's king.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: It also gave the King access to the K-side if he needed it. But the primary purpose was indeed to deny e4 to the Black Queen.


30... Qc2	an attempt to trap white into a perpetual. Only one move could help white resist a draw. White played exactly that.



31. Qg4	The only move which prevents black from drawing. If white had played anything other than this move, then 31..Qd3 32.Ke1 Qb1 33.Kf2 Qc2 would have forced a draw by repetition. The key for white was to bring the queen to a square from where it could move to the c1-h6 diagonal when needed, to protect the bishop, and thus allow the king to move away.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: With this move, I thought White was, if not winning, very close to it! That mobile 3-1 pawn majority on the K-side ought to be decisive. What resources has Black to save the game?


31... Kf7	bringing in king to e6 to thwart white's pawns from advancing
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 06-Apr-07: At the time, 32.e6ch didn't look possible here. But after 32.e6ch Kf6 White can try 33.Qg5ch Kxe6 34.Qxg7 Qd3ch 35.Ke1 Qb1ch 36.Kf2 At this point, it looks as though White ought to be able to make something of his connected passed pawns! Did I let slip a winning chance? I didn't want to give up the e-pawn, but maybe I should have looked deeper into this line!


32. Qg5 b5 33. g4 a5 34. Qf4+ Ke6 35. Qe3 Qh7 36. f4	already looks like a draw now.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 14-Mar-07: I still thought I had an edge here, but it turned out I had underestimated what the Queen could do from h1!


36... g6 37. Qg3 Qh1 38. f5+ gxf5 39. gxf5+ Kxf5 40. Qf2+ Ke6 41. Qf6+ Kd7	Draw. It is impossible for white to breakthrough, because black may force white into a perpetual if white plays a non-check move (such as taking the b5 pawn).
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 06-Apr-07: With 37...Qh1 came the realisation that White has no win. From the final position, White might have tried 42.e6ch Kd6! (42...Kc6 at once would have lost!) 43.Bf4ch Kc6 44.Qxe7 Qg2 45.Ke3 Qe4 whereupon Black has a perpetual. 45.Ke1 keeps the game alive for a little longer, but he still can't escape the checks: 45.Ke1 Qe4 46.Kd1 Qf3 47.Kc2 Qe4 48.Kb2 Qe2 49.Kb1 Qd3 etc. Black doesn't want to allow White to recall the B to d2, which might well provide sanctuary for the King... Overall, a disappointing result, but a good fighting game for all that!