Annotated chess game: Didcot 1 v Wantage 1 Bd 5

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ANNOTATED GAME

Didcot 1 v Wantage 1 Bd 5
Paul Paxton-Doggett (1824) vs. Bob Jacobs (1776)
Annotated by: rjacobs

(1714)
Chess opening: English, 1...Nf6 (Anglo-Indian defense) (A15)

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Just to own up to my faults, here's last night's disaster. We lost the match and are now second from bottom:-( Last time we met, I beat this opponent but in this game he played quickly and positively. I made several errors and was blasted away in 18 moves. I have some serious lessons to learn!

1. c4 Nf6	I don't like facing the English and usually encourage my opponent to convert into a King's Indian, where I'm much more familiar with the themes and tactics. Perhaps I should learn the English properly.



2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. d3	White resists the temptation to play d4, clearly following his preconceived plan, as he raced through his moves. I too was moving quickly but I was having to think and he had only used a minute!



6... e5	Not sure this is best. Perhaps I should have gone symmetrical with 6...c5.



7. Bg5 Nbd7 8. Qc1	White was still moving instantaneously, which made me stop to ponder what he was planning and might have missed. I decided to release my N from its pin, preparing a plan that was doomed to failure.



8... Qe8 9. Bh6	Its job on g5 done, the B prepres to swap on g7



9... Ng4	? I think this was the start of my woes. the N merely encourages White to do what he'd planned to do anyway and provides a target for White's attack.



10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. h3 Nh6	? This compounded the error. The idea was to support the typical KID thrust of ...f5 but the N quickly becomes a liability here. It would have been better to admit my folly immediately and return to f6.



12. h4 f5	Consistent but merely weakening Black's defences further.
	1 comment longtail99 (1922) on 03-Feb-10: 12. Nd5 was possibly even better. Yes, ..f5 was attractive, but too ambitious


13. h5	! White prepares to expose the Nh6 to the full fury of his KR and Q.



13... f4	? Another consistent but useless move. White's QN now has a choice of beautiful squares.
	1 comment longtail99 (1922) on 03-Feb-10: ..c6 was better. White could still play Nd5


14. gxf4	White opens up more attacking lines.



14... exf4 15. Nd5	! White forks f4 and c7, threatening a further fork from there, as well as taking closer order to Black's exposed King.
	1 comment longtail99 (1922) on 03-Feb-10: At last white plays the move


15... Nc5	? After my longest think of the game, I decided to counter-attack, hoping to fork White's K and Q by exploiting the pin on e2 but I'd overlooked the strength of my opponent's coming combination.
	1 comment longtail99 (1922) on 03-Feb-10: ..Ne5 was forced


16. Qc3+	! I'd seen this but under-estimated it.



16... Kg8	Nothing could usefully be interposed and 16...Kf7 just invited 17. Ng5+, when White's Ns looked horrible.



17. hxg6	! I'd seen this too but missed the most salient point of the position.



17... Qxg6	?? Just awful, though I was probably already lost anyway. What was shocking was that, with so many threats around, I missed the biggest one. A quick sense check of "What can White's Ns do?" should have stopped me from making this blunder. Though what else I could have done that didn't lose quickly, I don't know.



18. Ne7+	! White applies the coup de grace, forking K and Q. I'd had enough and resigned immediately. Sorry to my teammates.