|
« TAP TO LOG IN
|
ANNOTATED GAME
Challenge from hetconnection
hetconnection (1736) vs. orangutan (1739)
Annotated by: orangutan (1947)
Chess opening: Sicilian defence (B20)
hetconnection (1736) vs. orangutan (1739)
Annotated by: orangutan (1947)
Chess opening: Sicilian defence (B20)
 Interactive |
• |  Show all comments |
• | All annotated games | • | View chessboard as: |
| ||||||
|
1. e4 |
I had just met this opponent in blitz - we played an interesting game, and afterwards he challenged me with the same variation. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
1... c5 2. Bc4 |
I seem to be coming up against this variation a lot. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
2... Nc6 |
2 ...e6 is solid - I sometimes like to defer it in the hope of transposing into something like a Dragon. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
3. Nf3 e6 |
....but white's attack on f7 can be troublesome, and in this game I decided to cut it out. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
4. d4 |
Transposing to an Open Sicilian. I head for a Paulsen type of formation. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
4... cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bc5 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. O-O d5 |
Maybe I should have played ...a6 first. What follows, although not frightening, was not exactly what I had in mind. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Qxd7 |
I was not particularly worried by the exchange of light square bishops. In many variations of the Open Sicilian white lives to regret the light square weaknesses. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
11. Be3 Bxe3 |
I didn't really want to exchange dark-squared bishops, but took the opportunity to isolate a pawn. I could have played Qc7, but I was anxious about the fact that I was still two moves from castling. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
12. fxe3 Nf6 13. c3 |
I wasn't sure about this move. It may have been intended to strengthen the pawn, liberating the queen from its defence - but in fact it turns into a chronic weakness. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
13... O-O 14. Qd4 Qb5 |
The idea of the queen manoeuvring here is to create weaknesses in the white pawn structure. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
15. b3 |
Now the c-pawn is weak, and will become a focus of pressure. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
15... Rfc8 16. Nd2 Qc5 |
With the weaknesses on e3 and c3 and my rooks already moving onto the open files, I didn't mind transposing into an endgame. I normally prefer tactical middle games, but with both pairs of bishops off, I figured a middle game was more likely to develop into a slow slogging match. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
17. Rac1 Qa5 |
Of course, not solving white's structural problems for him by exchanging on d4. I try to weaken the pawns still further. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
18. a4 Rc6 |
Signalling the not very subtle plan of bringing all possible firepower to bear on c3. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
19. Rxf6 |
....and then comes this bolt from the blue. Initially I regarded it as a mistake - surely white didn't have enough pieces on the kingside to exploit it? | |||||
| | ||||||
|
19... gxf6 20. Qxf6 Rac8 |
Back to business as normal, ignoring the impending check. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
21. Qg5+ Kf8 22. Ne4 |
This was the point. Here I realized I had a problem, in fact I thought i might be already lost. I spent a long time analyzing the defensive plan seen in the next few moves. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
22... Qd8 |
Obviously white does not want to exchange queens. I figured Nf6 was likely, and would be met by ...e5. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
23. Nf6 e5 |
As planned. | |||||
| | ||||||
|
24. Nxh7+ |
White now has a passed h-pawn, but a potentially isolated knight for my rooks to chase. | |||||
| | ||||||
| ||||||