Annotated chess game: In Old Matey's shadow

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ANNOTATED GAME

In Old Matey's shadow - Part I
tomwhufc (1732) vs. jstevens1 (1500)
Annotated by: jotheblackqueen (1200)
Chess opening: Evans gambit (C52), compromised defence, Paulsen variation

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1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5	3. ....... Bc5. The first three moves are those of the Guico Piano. An opening beginners are encouraged to try first. This opening is old and is also played at Expert level at least on Gameknot. It is not seen quite as often at GM level because the Spanish Opening and the Sicilian have dominated things.



4. b4	4. b4 (white diverges here with the Evans Gambit, it is a very strong Gambit)
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: The object of the gambit is to deflect one of Black's minor pieces (usually the bishop), gaining time via c2-c3 and d2-d4 to grab the lion's share of the centre. Often White develops a B and Q battery along the a2-g8 diagonal, in conjunction with the dark square bishop (DSB) on the adjacent (a3-f8) diagonal.


4... Bxb4	4. ......... Bxb4 (I accept the gambit)
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: Black may decline the gambit by 4...Bb6 - a response favoured by Em. Lasker. Some consider it no way to refute the gambit... tomwhufc (1200) on 19-Jan-08: I'd agree with you there ionadowman it certainly doesn't refute the Evan's. I've found that this move is not often played in my experience on GK, shame really I like playing against it


5. c3 Ba5	5. .......... Ba5 (my bishop is driven back by 5. c3)
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: The most usual retreat, maintaining some pressure along the a5-e1 diagonal. tomwhufc (1200) on 19-Jan-08: Yeah this is the most common move, when I play the black side (which I rarely do coz of my liking of the Caro Kann!) I usually retreat the DSB back to e7.


6. d4 exd4 7. O-O dxc3	7. .......... dxc3 (I chose this line because it liquidates white's pawns on the queenside). The downside is that black's development is somewhat retarded? Will this negate the destruction of white's queenside pawns? Read on.
	3 comments archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: The move is not unknown, but I think the annotator is right to regard it as rather a risky line. What follows for the next 5 moves is pretty typical of this line. marinvukusic (2161) on 06-Jan-08: It is called "Compromised Defence" thoretically important but practically very hard to play OTB. In correspondence chess it is viable. tomwhufc (1200) on 19-Jan-08: yeah the compromised defence seems very common among mid ranged players who haven't seen the Evan's before. I feel it is not a sufficient method of neutralising the Evan's. It gives white too much intiative to build up a mating attack.


8. Qb3 Qf6	8......... Qf6 (defends the f pawn and adds protection to my passer on c3). Qb3 is a strong move though!



9. e5 Qg6	9........ Qg6 (could I have safely taken the e pawn with 9...... Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Qxe5?)
	1 comment far1ey (1200) on 12-Jan-08: Nxe5 Nxe5 Qxe5? loses to Bxf7+ +/-


10. Nxc3 Nge7	10. ....... Nge7 (I did consider exchanging my offside bishop for white's knight but I decided it was high time to develop my pieces and prepare castling)



11. Ba3 O-O 12. Rad1 Re8	12. ...... Re8 adds protection to the e7 knight
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: ... and seems to be the normal move at this point. But it seems to me the f7-point is looking very sensitive...


13. Ne4 Nf5	13. ....... Nf5 (If 13...... Qxe5 then 14. Bxf7 winning rook on e8)
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: White's most frequent choice at move 13 is Bd3 (with advantage, according to my ancient MCO11), though the GK 1900+ database has other moves, as I recall. But I've not seen anywhere an example of 13.Ne4. The move is obviously a decoy: 13...Qxe4 14.Bxf7ch Kf8 15.Ng5 (Has White enough after 15.Bxe8 Kxe8, one wonders?) ...Qf5 16.Bg8 (threatening 17.Nxh7ch) 17...Rd8 18.Rd3 and White's attack looks dangerous [I think I need to look further into this. 18...Nxe5 might contain the attack]. A crucial point in the game. Black declined to test White's idea - fair enough. The text move 13...Nf5 keeps the f3-knight out of h4, but White can now occupy g5...


14. Neg5	14. Neg5! (Powerful move. f7 is attacked 3 times and defended twice by King and Queen)



14... Nh6 15. Bd3	15. Bd3 (I cover this square with my knight but my queen is now en prise!)



15... Nd4 16. Bxg6 Nxb3	16. ...... Nxb3 (I thought I was over the worst here, I'm 2 pawns up and both queens are off the board, will this be a nice, peaceful endgame?)
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: 15...Nd4 was an ingenious counterstrike in a very dire situation. But White has a lot of confidence in his attacking resources to allow the Q exchange!


17. Bxh7+	17. Bxf7 - no chance, says my opponent's bishop!



17... Kh8 18. axb3 g6	18. ....... g6. (I try to trap the bishop but......)
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: Black wants her piece back, but this is too weakening. White's next is a back-breaker.


19. e6 dxe6 20. Rd8	20. Rd8 - ...... this allows a brilliant sacrificial combination which I overlooked!)
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: Two excellent moves end Black's resistance. This last is a fine example of a decoy sacrifice, luring Black's rook off the e-file.


20... Rxd8	21. ....... Rxd8
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: Might as well! White's next move would be no different had Black tried 20...Bd7 or 20...Rf8.


21. Bb2+	21. Bb2 (the stinger, I now resign on the grounds of unavoidable mate. I can only put pieces in the way and it will be Bxf6#!)
	5 comments toiletduck1 (1200) on 06-Jan-08: My friend Tom is an excellent player & a master of the Evans. So don't worry I know what it feels like 2 be thrashed by him!! archduke_piccolo (2332) on 06-Jan-08: A very elegant finish! moppa (1200) on 07-Jan-08: 19.e6! is quite a beautiful move, followed by an aesthetically pleasing checkmate! tomwhufc (1200) on 19-Jan-08: Good annotation jstevens, keep then coming. I like how you don't always annotate your wins, I'm too vain to annotate my losses. I probably should though Thanks for the complement toiletduck. If anyone likes the Evan's Gambit or is interested in adding it to there repertoire feel free to contact me for some pointers. Here are a few annotated games I did on the Evan's: gameknot.com gameknot.com gameknot.com gameknot.com By the way I'm happy to play the evan's in a game with anyone, just send me a PM gintama (2112) on 18-Mar-12: Tomwhufc it is Evans gambit not evan's gambit because it was named after William Davies Evans