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ANNOTATED GAME

Chess game
Pierre99 (1200) vs. Yakimov (2375)
Annotated by: pierre99 (1200)
Chess opening: Robatsch (modern) defence (B06)

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Hi everyone. I don't know who Yakimov is. I don't know if he had been up all night, was tired, or what. All I know is I don't play completely accurately, but neither does he in this game, and white gets an attack that crushes black. Appreciate any comments anyone wishes to make on this one.

1. e4 g6

At first I thought he might try a hyper-modern opening...

2. Nf3

My standard preference as white, if I can play these two moves I will.

2... Bg7 3. Nc3

I did this to see how badly he wanted to control that h8-a1 file. I delay moving the d pawn, just to see what his intentions are in the middle, because of how he opened. Perhaps this is a bit too passive as white, but I want an indication of whether black really intends to fight for the middle from afar, or if he has another plan altogether. Remember, I am not thinking I am going to win this game; his rating is by far the highest I've ever played against. As such, I have no clue as to what he could possibly be thinking, and I want a clue. Badly. ;)

3... c5

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Were I more knowledgeable about openings, I may have recognized this as his intention. Since I didn't initially recognize this black opening, I just develop pieces with the idea of attacking the Kingside later.

4. Bc4 e6

I expected that.

5. O-O

Against a player this strong, with the black bishop not directly attacking the Kingside, I wanted to castle immediately, so at least to have a little King safety for a while before tactics against such a stronger player prove my downfall. In this position, I now feel comfortable that I have a few moves before major fireworks occur, unless black wishes to open up the middle immediately. I don't expect him to, because players of his caliber prefer complicated positions, generally speaking.

5... Nc6

Expected.

6. d3

Now remember, I don't know openings this far in. To me, this position is not the best for white. I am trying to tempt him to take my knight with that black bishop in return for a screwed up white pawn position. I am still, to be honest, intimidated by his rating. It's a real weapon, psychology in chess. And so I right now have played rather passively. Things will soon change.

6... Nge7

Wasn't Nf6 a possibility here? He wishes to castle, and now hints of tactics are in play.

2 comments

7. a3

Here I simply create a retreat for my white bishop. I really did not even think he'd consider putting the black knight on b4 at all; this is solely so my bishop can flee and remain on the a2-g8 diagonal.

7... O-O

Now this is perfectly fine for black, but now I am beginning to form my own real plan, and I'm glad he's finally castled Kingside. Why? Here's why: against a much stronger player, why not launch an attack against his Kingside in a most... ugly way, perhaps he'll underestimate the danger against someone rated so much lower! It's worth a shot; perhaps I don't give myself enough credit, but honestly, in a long positional struggle, I think this player would eat me alive, so to speak!

8. Be3

This is a slow plan, and easily thwarted but black lets me do this.

8... d6

This move surprises me. Is it the most accurate? I really don't know, but I don't trust it. It looks rather passive... I would have thought by now he'd be blowing up the queenside, and then grind me down with superior chess. This looks suspiciously like a Sicilian. Which, I might add, I LIKE playing against as white. It is a pet peeve of mine that so many black players play the Sicilian, so I have spent a lot of personal time developing my own way of defeating it, which usually works if black playes too passively. The whole point of the Sicilian is to play aggressively... and black fails to do this. This IS a Sicilian, now, is it not? Dragon formation? And to the comment on ...d5, perhaps you are right. But white can get two pawns, and perhaps black did not want the point for the central pawn control. I ought to analyze that continuation; it's possible he was playing so fast he missed it, and I confess I did not see it.

2 comments

9. Qd2

Completing development, and finally preparing for active play.

9... a6

And it looks like black is finally getting around to doing something on the queen side. Well, let him. I have my own plans now.

10. Rab1

This is a purely defensive move, the last one I'll really make.

10... b5

Expected.

11. Bb3

And now, why did I stop here you may wonder. My reasoning is I want him to play c4, so I am trying to provoke him into it. But, he isn't ready to do that yet. The white bishop is very uncomfortable right now, but I'm willing to suffer it. Black has tactics now on the queenside. In a normal Sicilian, black would push hard against the queenside. But... I'm castled on the Kingside. So what he does next makes sense, I suppose.

11... Bb7

Developing and now I wonder if he's really contemplating a kingside move when to my eyes a black queenside push is still called for. His pieces are not fully coordinated in my opinion... not yet. But looking at this as we played quickly, I felt sure his position was still superior to white's. So I decided to change things up some.

12. Bh6

My good bishop was actually doing very little. I'd rather trade these off, and then try to take advantage of the resulting dark-squared weaknesses. I am sure black had something good coming for him, and I couldn't wait to just let him do what he wished to. No doubt some analysis here would show things I missed, or he missed; but this was a blitz game, and as noted, I'm still intimidated. I only wish to give him a decent game, and lose graciously.

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