Annotated chess game: Living Dangerously

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ANNOTATED GAME

Living Dangerously
rjacobs (1631) vs. jstevens1 (1826)
Annotated by: jotheblackqueen (1200)
Chess opening: QGA (D20), 3.e4

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1. d4	Hi everyone! Here is a game between me and my buddy Bob Jacobs. At the end of the game, no doubt you will think, with me a clear pawn up, I should have breezed it. Not so simple, I felt that his heavies and dsb did a real good containing job of my passers and I was worried about my king safety so hence my decision to concede a low draw and err on the side of caution. But I could so easily have lost that game as I got my usual bad dose of middle game passivitis. How did this happen? Read on.



1... d5 2. c4 dxc4	2. ..... dxc4 - the Queen's Gambit Accepted.



3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Bxc4	5. Bxc4 - pawn trade. This also brings out Bob's lsb giving him a lead in development.



5... Nc6 6. O-O Be6 7. Bxe6 fxe6	7. ......... fxe6 - piece trade. I am still behind in development.
	2 comments nyctalop (2166) on 24-Oct-09: I think 5...Bb4+ is the most recommended move here. charleshiggie (2222) on 25-Oct-09: yes 5....bb4 looks good, catching up on development


8. Bf4 Nf6 9. Nbd2 h6 10. Re1 Be7	10. ....... Be7 - development.
	1 comment charleshiggie (2222) on 25-Oct-09: Was h6 really necessary? Black seems to have a lot of weak white squares on the king side.


11. Rc1 Rc8 12. Nb3 O-O	12. ...... 0-0 - it soon transpires that Henry is far from safe here. Bob now wins back his extra pawn and his attack will soon put me on the rack!



13. Nbxd4 Qd7 14. Qb3	14. Qb3 - oooh that nasty Witch! Yup, the Wicked Witch of the West is eyeing up my b2 and e6 pawn. One of these will soon drop off.



14... Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Qxe6+	16. Qxe6+ - after a trade of knights the Witch duly snaffles the e pawn. Now she will also commit ecclesiastical murder next move with Qxe7.
	1 comment charleshiggie (2222) on 25-Oct-09: You sound more and more like Henry II each day.... yes, white is doing well here the white bishop is better than the black knight.


16... Kh7 17. Qxe7 Qxb2	17. ..... Qxb2 - whoohoa, Glenda also makes an excursion into the enemy camp. Her goal is to stop Bob from getting a remote queenside passer which I could well do without being a pawn down.



18. Rxc7	18. Rxc7 - I am now in Old Matey's shadow. I decide to cut Bob's attack down with Rxc7. Not good to trade when a pawn down but I hope I can have a ghost of a survival chance in the endgame. If Henry is caught - no chance.



18... Rxc7 19. Qxc7 Qxa2	19. ...... Qxa3 - Glenda carries out her plan. Bob is concerned about his back rank so he creates luft for his king but I get my pawn back and am able to plant a rook on f7 to drive back that nasty, evil witch.
	1 comment charleshiggie (2222) on 25-Oct-09: I think h3 is more to prevent Ng4 rather than to give the king a flight square.


20. h3 Rf7 21. Qe5 b6	21. ........ b6 - a tentative step to Glendadom. I will soon put my rook on b7 to try and support the passed b pawn.



22. Be3 Qc4 23. Qf5+ Kg8	23. ..... Kg8 - evasive action.



24. Qg6	24. Qg6? - aggressive but loses e4 pawn.
	2 comments rjacobs (1688) on 24-Oct-09: mmm ... 24.f3 or 24.Bd2 looks better. charleshiggie (2222) on 25-Oct-09: what about 24. e5, pushing the passed pawn as another option?


24... Qxe4 25. Qg3	25. Qg3 - avoiding the queen trade. I spend several moves trying to force a queen trade but to no avail.
	2 comments rjacobs (1688) on 24-Oct-09: No way was I going to allow a Queen trade with those remote passed pawns threatening to win the game for you. charleshiggie (2222) on 25-Oct-09: yes, being a pawn down, white should avoid piece exchanges.


25... Kh7 26. Bd2 Qc2 27. Be3 Rb7	27. ..... Rb7 - I carry out the second step of my plan. The pawns will be supported by my rook. It is a good idea to have a rook behind passed pawns in the endgame. But can he stay there?



28. Rc1 Qe2 29. Qe5 Qh5	29. ...... Qh5 - in retrospect maybe I should have played a5.
	1 comment rjacobs (1688) on 24-Oct-09: Agreed: every opportunity to advance the pawns should have been exploited.


30. Qe6 Qd5 31. Qc8 a5	31. ...... a5 - I get this move in at last but that's how far as it gets. The Witch now annoys me with her checks!



32. Qc2+ Qe4 33. Qd2 Qd5	33. ...... Qd5 - and draw offer - after two bad losses, one against a 1500+ player my nerves got the better of me yet again. Do you the jury have any ideas on how you could have pushed for this victory? Please advise. Joanne
	7 comments nyctalop (2166) on 24-Oct-09: I can give you two suggestions, one from a chess point of view, the other from a more personal point of view. First, this position is easily won by Black. Propose exchanges on central squares. If your opponent declines, you gain positional advantage. If he accepts, you're that much closer to a winning endgame. I'd seek to exchange Rooks here first, keep the minor pieces and Queens, if possible. My second advice to you is harder to quantify since it's more of a personal suggestion. I've seen a few more annotated games where you either resigned prematurely or taken an early draw when you had a much better or even won position. I think you don't have enough confidence in your abilities to convert the full point and you're also not willing to suffer in order to scrape a lucky draw. Try to find someone to play with on a regular basis that likes the play the whole game, even up to mate. I have a junior at my club that plays up to mate, regardless if he's losing or winning. And he usually wins by sheer tenacity. Endurance is important in chess, sometimes more important than raw talent. easy19 (1200) on 24-Oct-09: Sound advice by nyctalop damn what a name to spell.. Quote Try to find someone to play with on a regular basis that likes the play the whole game, even up to mate. I think that is me, but i am always the one that is mating.. grntnick (1200) on 24-Oct-09: I always play up to mate, even when it is an easily won endgame. If your opponent wants to win, make them earn it! Everyone makes mistakes because everyone is human, if you lose then no harm done, if you manage to scrape up a draw or win then you'll feel really happy you stayed around. To the game, it should be pretty easily won. White will not accept trades so force trades and start pushing your past pawns. In fact the plan is straightforward. Keep the Queen centralized, centralize the knight, push the queenside pawns/create some small threats against the white king and white can not deal with both threats. blake78613 (1200) on 24-Oct-09: Without disputing the above advice, I think it depends upon the personality. I find it very depressing to play a lost position (especially if it was caused by a blunder), and that depression carries over to my other games. When I have a lost game I like get it behind me and move on to other games. However if I have advantage I am definitely going to play on. Here I think you would have gained valuable experience by playing on. If you had managed to lose the game, you would probably have a better idea how to play such an endgame next time. rjacobs (1688) on 24-Oct-09: I was very pleasantly surprised by the draw offer and virtually bit off Jo's hand. When we first started playing each other we had a long series of draws, then she started winning and I don't think I've ever beaten her, so this was a real bonus for me, especially as I felt the game was lost - but I would have carried on trying to deny Jo for as long as possible, for the reasons given by you chaps. A lucky escape for me last_archimedean (1564) on 24-Oct-09: I'm not a good enough player to offer positional advice, but I can offer you this. Tarrasch once said that the most difficult thing to do in chess is winning a won game. You have to keep playing until you either mate or force the opponent to resign. Keep your confidence up, maintain your focus and try to avoid mistakes. I know, easy to say and hard to do, but there it is. untateve (1200) on 26-Oct-09: I will add--It is difficult to improve when one is overly concerned about one's rating. I have had higher rated players offer me a draw, which I refused, and then I've gone on to lose the game. However, I am more focused on improving and less concerned about my rating. Losing is sometimes painful, but it can be an excellent teacher.