Annotated chess game: Henry's Deadly Dash

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ANNOTATED GAME

Henry's Deadly Dash - Part 1
brigadecommander (2218) vs. jstevens1 (1784)
Annotated by: jotheblackqueen (1200)
Chess opening: English opening (A20)

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1. c4	Hi everyone! Has anybody ever heard of Steve Backshall? Well, he is a guy who just lurves chasing wild animals, although on occasions they chase him. I found out about him from watching a Children's programme called CBBC with my six year old Charlotte and later played the CBBC game where Steve has to outrun bees, hippos and alligators - this game is called Steve's Deadly Dash. In this MT in aid of the Christchurch Earthquake I am playing Master Janet. Things seemed to be OK for me when suddenly Henry was subjected to a deadly dash from her rook and the Wicked Witch of the West. Alas, Henry got caught and he had to rest up! Anyhow, on with the game. Gameknot Analysis is provided in the following link.http://gameknot.com/analyze-board.pl?bd=15488483&fb=1&rnd=0.19786173690656117. Janet kicks off with the English Opening - 1.c4.
	2 comments easy19 (1200) on 01-Apr-11: I only have one response in on the English opening. and that is go symmetrical yoshark (1409) on 01-Apr-11: I like Nf6 most likely transposing into an Indian Defense.


1... e5 2. g3	2. g3 - white usually likes to fianchetto a lsb on the kingside in the English Opening and Janet is no exception.



2... Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5	4. ....... Nxd5 - pawn trade.



5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nb6 7. Nc3 Be7	7. ...... Be7 - clearing the way for kingside castling.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 31-Mar-11: This has now the look of a Sicilian Reversed, with an accelerated fianchetto - almost a Dragon Defence.


8. a3 O-O 9. b4	9. b4 - a queenside pawn storm perhaps?
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 31-Mar-11: Think: Sicilian. This is a fairly standard advance, bearing in mind in that opening Black's counterplay is often on the Queen's flank.


9... Be6 10. d3 a5 11. b5 Nd4	11. ..... Nd4 - an interesting passage of play is about to evolve. The e5 pawn is left to hang, but ....



12. Nxe5 Bf6 13. f4 Nb3 14. Be3 Nxa1 15. Qxa1	15. Qxa1 - ..... but there is an exchange sac on white's part. Can this be justified? We shall see.
	3 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 31-Mar-11: Hard to say what the motivation is: maybe simply to liven up the game. But White is left with a very active initiative for the small amount of material given up. For one thing, Black's Q-side is under a deal of pressure already from White's Bishops. The following exchange is understandable. black_cat_hamlet (1531) on 31-Mar-11: there's also the removal of the strongly placed knight... hityerclock (1200) on 31-Mar-11: This is still known theory; white has adequate compensation for the exchange with the more active pieces, central pawn majority, and half-open c-file. The position is roughly even.


15... Bxe5 16. fxe5 Nd5 17. Bc5 Re8	17. ..... Re8 - my rook is en prise and must move to the only possible square.



18. Na4 b6 19. Bd4	19. Bd4 - a line up on the a1-h8 diagonal could spell danger for Henry.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 31-Mar-11: That's just the least of it. White is about to clamp a siege upon Black's Q-side position.


19... Rc8 20. Qb2 Qd7 21. e3 Bh3	21. .... Bh3 - wanting to exchange off white's strong lsb. Unfortunately white's dsb is the one I should perhaps be thinking of ridding myself of.



22. e6 Qxe6 23. Bxh3 Qxh3 24. e4	24. e4 - puts the question to my knight. I opt for f6 - will Janet be prepared to part with this strong bishop in order to open up the g column? Will this decision prove costly to me? Time will tell.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 31-Mar-11: With exchanges, Black has relieved some of the Q-side pressure, but the resulting deflection to the K-wing has handed White almost exclusive control of the valuable real estate in the centre. Hanging pawn couples such as White has in the d- and e- files can often be a liability, but here it may be some time before Black can organise any counter-action against them. At that, they form a mobile pawn majority in the centre - a veritable battering ram in the right circumstances. Furthermore, White has even the beginnings of attack upon Black's K-side, with pressure against f7 and g7. black_cat_hamlet (1531) on 31-Mar-11: the g-file is going to open up no matter what happens because with any other knight move, White plays Bxg6 - best to get rid of the dark-square bishop!


24... Nf6 25. Bxf6 gxf6 26. Qxf6	26. Qxf6 - Aha, here is the Wicked Witch and my f7 pawn is en prise. I choose to defend by Qh5?? but this proves to be the losing move according to Gameknot Analysis. My opponent also suggested 26.Qe6 and she thought that if I played that then I would have had great drawing chances. Again I miss the chance to add Janet's name to my Master Draw list!
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 31-Mar-11: Interesting comments. I had formed the impression that White already had much the better of it - but maybe all the assets I mentioned in my last note served to compensate for the slight material deficit and the 'off-side' knight. At any rate, Jo obviously overlooked a short range tactical shot...


26... Qh5 27. Rf5 Qd1+ 28. Kg2 Qb3	28. ..... Qb3 - I eschew the knight on a4 because Henry will cop Old Matey if Glenda takes it. Instead she defends the pawn on f7. However, Rg5+ proves decisive and now comes Henry's Deadly Dash.



29. Rg5+ Kf8 30. Qh6+ Ke7 31. Re5+ Kd7 32. Qc6+	32. Qc6+. Here I resign on the grounds of Unavoidable Mate. Henry has only one square (d8) and next move comes Qxe1#. Well played, Janet. Joanne
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 31-Mar-11: It is remarkable how quickly mating attacks can whip up apparently from nowhere, and with scanty material at that..