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ANNOTATED GAME

Maintaining an edge then pushing too hard
Thereaper1 (1379) vs. Opponent (1149)
Annotated by: thereaper1 (1985)
Chess opening: English (A17), Queens Indian formation
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Pages: 123
Aside from the blunder at the end this game, this is an excellent example of fine positional play and ideas, both players in this game played to a level that belies the ratings showin, especially black. White manages to maintain the slight advantage that should derive from the first move for some time before black finally mages to equalize, however in a slightly inferior but dead drawn opposite colored bishops +rook ending white manages to gain the initiative and force black into a passive position and accurate defense secures what should have been a draw.
1. c4
My opponent is a young girl of about 11, she is part of a group of juniors that gets thorough coaching and in my expierence are known for being taught to play rather attacking chess, though this games shows that this doesn't come at the expense of positional knowledge, blacks play this game impressed me for such a young player. The game was for an interclub teams game of which we were the bottom board, this game will be very useful for learning chess players who have not come across these positional concepts before, also it would be useful to have a strong player look over this game for my sake as well, I'm not sure if my interpretation of the endgame is correct.
1 comment
 
1... Nf6
I have quite often seen this flexible knight move sometimes it's played with the intention of transposing into an Indian defense system so I chose my next move to be equally as flexible.
2 comments
 
2. Nc3 e6
I didn't want to go into a nimzo Indian here so I played another non committal move.
3 comments
 
3. Nf3
I was glad to see that this strategy of not making my intentions clear was working well, black hesitated on her next move and seemed unsure of how best to proceed.
1 comment
 
3... d5 4. d4
Now that I have avoided getting into what she likely wanted to play we now have what appears to be a queens gambit declined, this should be good for me since it is not an attacking game and is very positional one which should be slightly better for me. Whites play now should be based around an eventual minority attack on the queenside.

 
4... c5
However with this final transposition we now have a tarrasch defense! This makes sense from blacks perspective since this particular game gives black more attacking options than the queens gambit declined, usually black accepts the classic isolated d pawn in order to get free and easy piece development and potential for better piece activity, from whites point of view we need to show that the pawn is a weakness and that the free piece development is an illusion and the weakness of the pawn is of more consequence.
2 comments
 
5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3
Of course I would have liked to develop my DSB outside the pawn chain before getting this move in however I don't think I had enough time for it, any other move would allow black to push the pawn immediately, is pushing the pawn a correct idea here? I wasn't sure at all weather or not it worked out and rather than enter such unclear territory I played this logical move. It is important to realize that when it comes to weak pawns it is not always the pawn itself that is weak But the weak square in front of the pawn that is often of more consequence. So it is vital that we as white strive to control the d4 square and this phase of the game will revolve around both sides attempting to seize control of the critical square. If white can immobilize the pawn then trade of the minor pieces (since the pawns pluses involve active piece play) then white will have a great position especially if the ideal set up of a queen + rook ending can be achieved.
4 comments
 
7... O-O 8. Be2 Nc6 9. Nb5
!? Ordinarily one would want to avoid moving a piece more than once in the opening however there are some more subtle factors in play here, both sides are trying there hardest to achieve control over d4 and the battle continues to rage. In any case black was threatning to push her pawn toward and thus liquidating her only weakness in which we are left in an even position where black has a slight lead in development. So perhaps this is forced if white wishes to maintain the first move advantage.
3 comments
 
9... Bg4
!? This is a move I was worried about during the game but looking at it in hindsight maybe it was not as scary as I first thought. In any case the idea is quite advanced black may be intending to exchange bishop for knight in order to obtain more control over d4 however in order to do so black must first give up the bishop pair. Perhaps this move is good perhaps it is an in accuracy, it is up to the players to show that their idea is more important than the opponents so both sides need to work hard in order to implement their ideas quickly.
4 comments
 
10. O-O Re8
Blacks pieces are active and on good squares, it is now up to white to show that this activity will be short lived.
3 comments
 
11. Nfd4
After a quick calculation and safety check I decided that this move worked since if the bishop ever captures on e2 I can recapture with my knight and thus maintain control over d4 whilst also coming one step closer to accomplishing one of whites overall goals.
2 comments
 
11... Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Bxg4
Now white has turned one advantage into another, white has gained the bishop pair on an open board, however In doing so black was able to exchange the LSB for the knight which in turn gives black more control over the d4 square. However for the time being black cannot make use of this and whites new advantage (the bishop pair) means white probably maintains a small but annoying edge. Actually come think of it black gains equality now by chopping the bishop on g4 where mas exchanges simply leave an even position. ...Nxg4 Qxd4 Re4 followed by d4 and maybe even an extremely slight edge for black due to better development and piece activity.
3 comments
 
13... Bb6 14. Bf3
This gets my bishop away from the knights Path as well as preventing black playing ...d4 on account of b7 hanging.

 
14... Qd6
One should always be careful when leaving a piece unprotected like this, now white can be on the look out for tactics based on the unprotected state of the black queen, however here I don't think there are any tactics and this is an active move by black.
1 comment
 
15. b3
If blacks queen were defended right now then this move would allow black to get in ...d4

 
15... Bc7
?! I suspect this move is an inaccuracy The. I shop is no longer influencing the d4 square, instead it makes this simple one move mate threat against my king. Part of the reason I don't like this move that much is because it forces white to play g3 when white probably already wants to play g3 and Bg2 anyway. Preferable was probably Rad8
5 comments
 
16. g3 Rad8 17. Bb2 Ne4
Actually this move is quite good, at first I thought this was simply playing an active/agressive knight move to an advanced point which is good enough reason in itself to play it, then I realized it may even have a deeper purpose of performing the interesting knight maneuver Nf6-e4-g5-e6 where it will influence the d4 square ( again see how much play is based around this square!) however it may just be that black is simply playing active moves that pressure whites position and will follow up with a rook lift followed by brining the pieces over to the kingside which is also a fair enough plan.

 
18. Bg2
At this point I was looking at potential double attacks on the a pawn or even the bishop on c7 by threatning mate on g7 but first I consolidated my bishops position as well as opened up the possibility of brining my queen to the kingside via the light squares.

 
18... a6
Simply avoiding any potential tactics based on Qd4

 
19. Qd3
Actually I seriously considered playing Qg4 here with the idea that ...g6 weakens blacks dark squares, f6 would be horrible and I felt that blacks queen would be less well placed on g6 however after a bit of a think I change my mind and decided to double on the d file whilst also allowing for possible transfer to the c3 square. Of course I had to make sure that there were no tactics here since I've just placed my queen on an undefendind square.
3 comments
 

Pages: 123